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MVtr.'VA
O li-
•ft.
THE ROYAL NAVY
A HISTORY
FKOM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE TRESENT
•MV«S^I
c
■,>*fM^^^ f*^^:-i^»^
A History
From the Earliest Times to the Present
By
Wm. Laird Clowes
Felloru of Kings College, London ; Gold MedaUist U.S. Naval Institute ;
Hon. Member of the R.C/.S. Institution
Assisted by
■ Sir Clements Markham. K.C.B., F.R.S.
Captain A. T. Mahan, U.S.N.
Mr. H. W. Wilson
Col. Theodore Roosevelt, late Assist. Sec. U.S. Navy-
Mr. L. Carr Laughton
etc.
Twenty-five Photogravures
an, I
Hundreds of Full Page and other
Illustrations
Maps, Charts
Iji Five Volumes
Vol. III.
LONDON
Sampson L.ow, M.vrstox and Compan\-
limiti:d
^t. JSuiigtau'si ©oiiSf, .-fcttn- !£niir, ii.C.
1 898
LONDON :
TRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFOUD STREET ASP CIIARIXG CROSS.
INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME III.
Some of the causes which contnbiited to delay the appearance of
the second vohime of this History of the Eoyal Navy, have con-
tributed to delay the appearance of this, the third. The progress
of the work has, as before, been hampered by my ill-health and
my enforced residence in the high Alps during the greater part
of the year. A certain amount of delay, moreover, has resulted
indirectly from the recent war between the United States and
Spain. Captain A. T. Mahan, whose critical narrative of the
major operations of the AVar of the American Kevolution fills
about a third of the present volume, was employed in the service
of his country^ at Washington during the late conflict, and was
thus prevented for a time from devoting his attention to other
matters. So much of the delay as has been caused by his pre-
occupation will, I am sure, be readily forgiven, seeing that he
has now been able to revise proofs, etc., which mirst otherwise
have been sent to press without his final imprimatur. This book
has much to say concerning the beginnings and the early exploits
of the United States' Navy, which, in the days of Hull and
Decatur, proved itself to be as capable and chivalrous an
opponent as Great Britain ever had to meet upon the seas, and
which since, — and not only in the days of Tatuall, — has shown
itself as true and loyal a friend to Britain and her Navy, in peace
time, as it was gallant a foe in war. I cannot, therefore, refrain
from expressing here a sentiment which, in the course of the late
short but brilliant struggle, must have welled up often in the
' I should mention that my other American collaborator, Mr. Theodore Eoosevelt,
resigned his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the U. S. Navy, in order to take au
active part in the war, and, having obtained a commission as Lieut.-Colonel of the now-
famous " Hough Riders," fought with very distinguished bravery before Santiago
de Cuba. He has since been elected Governor of the State of New York.
r?(C"'t^>^
6C775
VI INTliOnUCTIuN TO VOLUME 7/7.
heart of many a Biiton. We triumph wherever the race wins
fresh glories ; and we feel proud in the thought that the victory
has heen gained by men speaking our speech, hearing our names,
.sharing our blood, and inspired by the traditions bequeathed e(jually
to both nations by Howard, Drake, Hawkins, Blake, Boscawen and
Hawke. Not to us has it fallen in these recent years to illustrate
those traditions, and to add to them fresh epics. Yet, since our
brothers of the New World have shown themselves at Manilla and
Santiago the same men that they were at Mobile and New Orleans,
we are surely justified in hoping that we, should the hour for action
come again, shall be alile to prove that our branch of the old stock
retains, in a similar manner, the old grit and the old sea virtues.
Although, as I have said, the progress of the work continues to
be somewhat delayed by my personal disabilities, I am not conscious
that the book suffers in any other way in consequence of my ill-
health. Thanks to my numerous and indefatigable helpers and
■correspondents, I am not, in spite of my necessary absence from
home, obliged to forego reference to any documents, state papers, or
books which ought to be consulted. Happily, too, most of the
materials for my part of the work were collected, and, to some
extent, set in order, ere I became a prisoner here ; and although, of
course, I still very often have to appeal for further particulars to the
public libraries, the Eecord Office, private muniment rooms, and
other storehouses of fact, there is, I find, remarkably little supple-
mentary research of this kind which cannot be carried out for me
by my assistants. It is a longer process, and a costlier, but not, I
hope, a less effective one.
I make this exj)lanation because some friendly critics who have
been so good as to point out certain small eiTors of omission or
commission in the previous volumes, have generously hinted their
conviction that, were I not the invalid I mifortunately am, these
errors would not have appeared. If I really believed that my state
of health were mcompatible with the carrying out of the work in
hand, I should assuredly try to find someone else to take over my
duties and responsibilities. But the fact is that such errors as I
have had brought to my notice, — and fortmiately they are neither
serious nor numerous, — are inevitable imperfections in any book of
this nature ; for, paradoxical though it be, I can safelj' assert that
in nothing is it so impossible to attain to absolute correctness and
finahty as in a critical record of historic facts. The difficulty
INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME III. vii
would Ijesct ine equally, were I sound instead ol' sick, and in Jjondon
instead of in Switzerland. There are conflicts of evidence which
appear irreconcilaljle ; there are original authorities which cannot
be laid hands upon, or which even the most studiously careful will
by chance overlook ; and there are many questions, the discussion of
which cannot be seriously attempted in a work to which limits have
been set. I am sure that some at least of the critics to whom I
have alluded, have made the mistake of supposing that it is because
of my condition and my position that I have ignored this witness'
testimony on a court-martial, have seemed to pay little or no heed
to the statements contained in that document, or have failed to
enter upon such and such an interesting, biat wide point of criticism.
I am obliged to say that such shortcomings as are to be found in
these volumes are due, for the most part, to very different causes.
Firstly, I am restrained by the space at my command from touching
upon many subjects with which I should otherwise like to deal at
length, and from entering upon long discussions as to the credibility
of evidence. The same consideration even obliges me to omit many
footnotes and references which I should otherwise gladly include.
Secondly, I am guided by the conviction that anyone who aspires
to complete a book so voluminous as this History, must perforce
proceed upon principles somewhat similar to those which Dr.
Johnson sketched in a very famous passage.
" Failures,'' he wrote, " however frequent, m.ay admit of extenuation and apology.
To have attempted much is always laudable, even wlien the enterprise is above the
strength tliat midertakes it. To deliberate whenever I doubted, to enquire whenever I
was ignorant, would have protracted the undertaking without end, and perhaps without
improvement. I saw that one enquiry only gave occasion to another, that book referred
to book, that to search was not always to find, and to find was not always to be
informed ; and that thus to pursue perfection was, like the first inhabitants of Arcadia,
to chase the sun, which, when tliey had reached the hill where he seemed to rest, was
still beheld at the same distance from them."
If, to put matters in other words, one were determined, in an
undertaking of this kind, to be content with nothing short of absolute
completeness and finality, neither the initiator, nor, after his death,
any of his successors, would live long enough to finish the work.
I make bold to recommend this reflection to all my critics, and
especially to one of them, who, in his review of my second volume,
said, speaking of the account there given of the first Dutch War
(1652-.54), that it was "premature." I do not doubt that it will be
possible, say a hundred years hence, to write a better and completer
VlU INTRODUGTION TO VOLUME HI.
history of that war than can be written now ; hut to admit so mucli
is surely not the same thing as to agree that a history, carefullj'
written now, and illustrated with scores of previously unpu):)lished
facts, is written too soon. It is surely not " premature " to brush
away even a single published error or misconception concerning the
course of our naval history ; and, I think, I may safely say that this
volume and those volumes which have preceded it, — although they,
too, possibly contain many errors on minor points, — give, upon the
whole, a much fairer and more accurate version of that history than
has been hitherto presented. One dares not hope for — much less
can one wait for, — absolute finality. But, by means of an under-
taking planned and carried out as this one is, in accordance with
the principles set forth in my General Preface, one may at least be
instrumental in enlarging general knowledge of a great subject, and
in rendering impossible the future acceptation of some of the gross
and astonishing misstatements on naval matters which one finds in
almost every English history. I have no wish to say here anything
unkind about any of my brother men of letters : but I cannot
abstain from citing from one particular book a few misstatements of
the sort to which I allude, in order that it may be seen that the
present work is not " premature," and that there does exist alreadj'
a real necessity for something of the kind. I speak of a book, dealing
with English history generally, and consisting of upwards of eleven
hundred large pages of small type. It bears the imprint of reputable
publishers ; and upon the title-page are the names of two distin-
guished universitj' men, one of whom is described as a lectiu'er on
modern history, and the other as a late professor on history, in a
well-known English college. The second edition of this book, dated
1885, is responsible for the following extraordinary statements,
among others.
Of Admiral Edward Vernon (1), it is said that he was a "rear-
admiral at twenty-four," and that he " failed in his attempt to
seize Porto Bello, from an insufficiency of force." The truth is
that Vernon was made a vice-admiral in 1739, when he was fifty-
five, that he had never before held flag-rank, and that, far from
failing at Puerto Bello, he brilliantly captured that place on
November *22nd, 1739, "with six ships only," as may be seen on
reference to pp. 51-57 of the present volume.
Surely there is some unconscious supprcssio i^eri in the assertion
that, "foiled in his attempt to catch tlie Spanish treasure-ship.
INTBOnUCTION TO VOLUME HI. IX
Anson bailed west\v;inl liuiu Anicric;i with the Centurion, his sole
remaining ship, and arrived at 8pithead in June 1744." The story
of what really happened, and of liow the Manilla galleon was taken,
will be found on p. 328 of this volume.
Episodes, localities, and individuals are curiouslj' jumbled and
confused in the following passage : — " On tlie 1st of June, 1794, the
division of the Channel fleet commanded by Lord Howe attacked
and utterly defeated the French fleet off the Hyeres Islands. In
this action Hood played a conspicuous part, and in the following
August he was created Baron Bridport, in the Irish peerage." It is
true, of course, that a great battle was fought on " The Glorious
First of June," 1794 ; but it was fought, not off the Hyeres Islands,
which lie near Toulon, in the Mediterranean, but off' Ushant, near
the mouth of the British Channel. The only important action
fought off Hyeres during the war of 1793-1802 was fought in July,
1795, by a British fleet under Admiral William Hotham (1). That
force was not a division of the Channel fleet, nor were the French
utterly defeated on the occasion. Moreover, Lord Bridport was not
upon the scene.
Rodney is described as " the son of a naval oiScer of some
renown." Henry Eodney, his father, is usually supposed, neverthe-
less, to have been a country gentleman, living at Walton-on-Thames.
It is further said of Eodney that, while he was residing in France,
" offers were made by the French to tempt him to desert his
country ; but he rejected the overtures, and was rewarded in 1778
by being promoted to be an admiral." It is news that promotion in
the Navy has ever been a reward for a flag-of&cer's refusal to become
a traitor : yet, seeing that when Eodney was made an Admiral of
the White, on January 29th, 1782, he was still in France, and that,
according to the generally accepted story, he owed his ability to
return to England to the fact that a French gentleman lent him the
necessary money, it is difticult to believe that the authorities at
Whitehall, if they had ever suspected him of treasonable prochvities,
could have felt sure, when they promoted him, that their suspicions
were baseless.
Of Sir Charles Napier it is said : " in 1829 he was employed off"
the coast of Portugal in the Galatea. He supported the Constitu-
tionalists ; defeated the fleet of Don Miguel, and settled Donna
Maria on the throne. Don Pedro was unbounded in his gratitude :
created him Viscount of Cape St. Vincent ; gave him all the
X INTRODUCTION TO VOIJJME III.
l*ortugiie&e orders, and named him adminil-in-cliiel'." From this it
would certainly appear to the ordinary reader that, while com-
manding H.M.S. Galatea, Napier took an active part in the internal
affairs of Portugal and defeated Don Miguel ; and that, in conse-
quence of his action, he was given command of Don Pedro's fleet.
Yet, in fact, Napier quitted the Galatea early in 1832; succeeded
Sartorius in counnand of Don Pedro's fleet in 1833, and did not,
until he was already serving in that capacity, defeat Don Miguel.
I might, if it were worth while, cite scores of other misstate-
ments, equally astonishing, from the book in question, and from
other recent works dealing with Enghsh history. Surely, when
such misstatements are being circulated broadcast, it is not
" premature " to put forward a Naval History which, though it
may possibly contain errors on obscure points of fact or criticism,
and though it make no pretence to be absolutely complete and
final, has been, at least, prepared with a vast amount of care,
which is the outcome of reference, — not, of course, to all existing
original authorities, but to many thousands of unpublished docu-
ments, private and public, and to many thousands of printed
histories, biographies, official papers. Navy lists, pamphlets and
periodicals ; and which has involved research in, and, in some
cases, special journeys to, not merely many parts of England, but
also France, America, Spain, Holland, Russia, Denmark and Italy.
For Chapters XXVI, XXVII, and XXX, of the present volume,
and for the appendix and some of the notes to Chapter XXXI, I am
directly responsible. Sir Clements Markham contributes Chapter
XXIX ; Captain Mahan, Chapter XXXI, and Mr. L. Carr Laughton,
Chapter XXVIII, and the appendix thereto.
Captain Mahan desires me to express here, on his behalf, very
cordial thanks to Professor J. K. Laughton, K.N., who has kindly
assisted him in many ways in the preparation of Chapter XXXI, in
the present volume.^ With regard to that chapter, I ought to point
out that the plan, on p. 375, of the naval attack on Fort Moultrie,
Charleston, in 1770, will be found to differ, in some small and un-
important details, from Captain Mahan's description of the disposi-
tions of the ships and of the guns in the works. Seeing, however,
that the plan in question is based upon a contemporary di'awing
' "He kiuJly pfaced at my disposal numerous notes made by liim at tlie Record
Office. These liave been of great, and indeed of indispensable assistance in the
narrative." — Letter of Captain Mahan to W. L. ('.
INTUODUCTION TO VOLUME 111. XI
made upon the spot l)y a British naval ollicer, and intended to
accompany and illustrate the dispatch of Commodore Sir Peter
Parker (1), I have deemed it to he of more than suflicient interest
to warrant its reproduction. For its inclusion, however, Captain
Mahan is not responsible. Among other supplementary illustrations
which I have ventured to add to his chapter, is the valuable note on
p. 396. It is l)ut a brief note ; but it represents the results of many
days' labour ; and we should not have been able to obtain the
figures contained in it, had we not had the co-operation of Colonel
H. Hozier, Secretary of Lloyd's, who most kindly allowed some of
the clerks in his office to compile the table from the original
documents.
To Lord Vernon, for information concerning his distinguished
kinsman, Admiral Edward Vernon (1), and to Captain Thomas
Suckling, E.N. (retd.), I desire also to express special thanks.
I regret that, owing to the fact that more than one chapter
of the present volume has extended to greater length than was
originally intended, I have found it impossible to conclude the
history of the period 176'2-1793 with Mr. H. W. Wilson's account
of the minor operations of the War of American Revolution. That
account will form the first chapter of Vol. IV, which, since most
of it is already in type, will, I hope, be in a condition for publication
very early in the year 1899.
W. L. C.
Davos-am-Platz, Switzerland.
Nov. 1898.
ERRATA.
The reader is requested to correct the following errors, the presence of which was
not discovered until after the greater part of the volume had been sent to press.
P. 9, at end of the iahh, in the two lower lines, under Cables,
for Diameter of bower cables, read Circumference of Viovver cables.
P. 37?i, line ifrom hottom,
for Captain James Eeid, read Commander James Pieid.
„ line 2 from hottom,
for Christopher, read Tobias.
P. 380, line 5,
for Admiral Lord Howe, read Vice-Admiral Lord Howe.
P. .387, line 21,
for Caulfield, read Caulfeild.
P. 406, ill tahle in note, tinder Vigilant,
for Com. Hugh Cloberry Christian, rmd Com. Biabazon Christian
P. 471, line 18,
for Thomas Graves (1), read Thomas Graves (2).
P. 473, line 25,
for Caulfield, read Caulfeild.
„ line 26,
for Bonovier, read Bonavia.
P.'474, line 2 from bottom,
for Caulfield, read Caulfeild.
P. 505, in 2nd col. of tahle,
for Capt. George Murray, read Capt. Hon. George JIurra}'.
for Capt. IJobert Sutton, I'ead Capt. Bobert Manners Sutton.
P. 538, line 14,
for Bichard Hughes, Bart. (2), read Richard Hughes (3j, Bart.
„ in first foot-note,
for Bichard Hughes, Bart. (1), read Bichard Hughes (2), Bart.
P. 546, in ard col. of note,
for Ileros, read Eeros.
P. 550, *;; line 8 of ith col. of table,
for Lapalliere, read Lapelliere.
P. 554, line 35,
for Batacalo, 7-ead Batticaloa.
P. 557, line 12,
for Batacalo, read Batticaloa.
CONTENTS
VOLUME III.
CHAPTER XXVI.
r.\OE
Civil History of the Royal Navy, 1714-17G2 .... 1
CHAPTER XXVII.
Military History of thh Royal Navy, 1714-1762 :
Major Operations ........ 24
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Military History of toe Royal Navy, 1714-1762 :
Minor Operations ........ 250
Appendix to Chapters XXVII. and XXVIII. :
Losses of the Belli<;erent Powers —
(a) Losses of H.M. Ships from 1714-1763 . . . 310
(h) Losses of the French Navy, 1744-48 and 1755-62 . 312
((•) Losses of the Spanish Navy, 1718-19, 1739-48,
and 1762 314
CHAPTER XXIX.
Voyages and Discoveriks, 1714-1762. ..... 316
CHAPTER XXX.
Civil History of the Royal Navy, 1763-1792 .... 325
XVI CONTENTS OF VOLUME HI.
CHAPTER XXX T. .
I'AGK
Military History of the Koyal Navv, 17fi-i-1792 :
Major Operations ........ 353
Appendix to Ch.\pter XXXI. :
Llst of British Flao-Ofkicers on the Active List, 1762-1793 5G5
INDEX ,5G9
LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS.
VOLUME III.
FULL-PAGE PHOTOGRAVURES.
George, Lord Anson, Admiral of the Fleet
George Brydges, Lord Rodney, Admiral .
Captain James Cook, R.N.
Richard, Earl Howe, Admiral of the Fleet
Sir Edward Huohes, K.B., Admiral .
. Front wpiece
Fdrinij iwrfp 242
34G
406
r,.r,o
FULL- PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
H.M.S. "Grafton," pitted with a jury ruddek, etc., for
her voyage to Englakd, after the storm off Loris-
nouRO, 17-t7. (Rwh Hervey's ' Naval History ) . Fdchiij [laiji? 1G9
Attack on Fort Moultrie, 1776 ..... Paijc .37-5
Part of North America and the North Atlantic, and
the West Indies .......,, 377
New York Harbour, and Neighbourhood . . . ,, 381
Martinique ........... 485
India and Ceylon ......... 544
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
\,Tlir illiiKtrnlimis IIii/m nnirki'ij (') arc taken from 'A Naval Exitositar,' bij Tliainax Bih'ii Bhinrkhy :
Luinhii, 1750.] I
P.\nE
iTop 1
The French " Invincible," 74
The Spanish " Glorioso," 74
The French "Terrirle," 74
Hadley's Quadrant .
6
6
8
13
XVIU
ILLUSTRATIONS.
' Royal Standakd, of George II. .
CoMMEMouATivE Medal OF Mathews's Action, 1744
iSiu John Norris, Kt., Admiral ok the Fleet .
George Byng, Viscount Torrington, Admiral of the Klki
Commemorative Medal of Hyng's Victory', 1788
Admiral Nicholas Haddock ....
Admiral Ed\vaed Vernon. ....
Attack on Puerto Bello, 1739
Admiral Sir Charles Knowles. . .
Commemorative Medal of Operations at Cartagena,
The Neighbourhood of Toulon
Sir William Rovvlev, Admiral of the Fleet
Mathews's Action off Toulon, 1744 .
Admiral Thomas Mathews ....
Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Warren
Commemorative Medal of Anson's Victory, 1747
Admiral Sir Charles Knowles.
Port Louis, Hispaniola .....
Byng's Action, 1756, I., 2 p.m. .
Byxg's Action, 1756, XL, 2.30 p.m.
Byng's Action, 1756, III., 3 p.m.
Admiral the Hon. John Bvng ....
Vice-Admiral Charles Watson.
Captain Maurice Suckling, R.N.
Admiral Sir Charles Saunders
Admiral Sir George Pocock ....
Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt .
The Harbour of Louisbourg ....
CoMME.MORATIVE MeUAL OF THE CaPTURE OP LoUISBOURG, 1758
Commemorative Medal op the Battle of Quiberon, 1759
Sib Peter Parker, Admiral of the Fleet
Admiral Sir Richard King
' Bittacle, or Binnacle, 1750 .
1 Voyal Block .....
' Ships' Fire-Engines, 1750
'Log, 1750
Hand Screw, or Jack, 1750
Signature of Richard, Earl Howe, Admiral of the Fleet
Comme.mobative Medal of Keppel's Action, 1778
Lake Champlain ......
;Manceuvres of Howe and d'Estaing .
Admiral Aui:u.stus Viscount Keppel.
PAGE
23
25
28
31
39
49
53
56
60
73
92
93
98
99
114
127
133
134
149
149
150
159
162
166
170
173
180
184
185
222
237
240
255
256
309
316
324
325
353
355
407
418
ILLUSTJUriONS.
XIX
Kkppel's Action off Ushant, 1778, T., 2.30 p.m.
Keppel's Action off Ushant, 1778, II., 6 p.m.
Admiral the Hon. Samuel Barrington
Northern Part of St. Lucia .
Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker (1) .
Byron's Action off Grenada
Admiral Harriot Arbutunot .
Admiral Sir Charles Hardy (2)
lloDNEY and de Guichen, April 17tii, 1780, I., 8 to 9 a.m
Rodney and de Guichen, April I'tii, 1780, II., noon to 1 p.m.
Rodney and de Guichen, May 15th, 1780
Cornwallis and de Ternay, June 20th, 1780
Admiral the Hon. Sir William Cornwallis
Commemorative Medal of the Capture of St. Eusta
Part of the Windward Islands
Arbuthnot and des Touches
Graves and de Grasse ....
Hood and de Grasse, January 2.5th, 1782, I.
Hood and de Grasse, January 2.5tii, 1782, II
Hood's Anchorage at St. Kitt's, 1782
Rodney and de Grasse, April 9th, 1782, I., 9.45 a. m
Rodney and de Grasse, April 9Tn, 1782, II., noon
Commemorative Medal of Rodney's Victory, 1782
Rodney and de Grasse, April 12th, 1782, A.
Rodney and de Grasse, April 12th, 1782, B.
Rodney and de Grasse, April 12Tn, 1782, C.
Rodney and de Grasse, April 12th, 1782, D.
SUFFREN AND JoHNSTONE, PoRTO PrAYA, 1781
Suffren and Huches, February 17th, 1782
SUFFREN AND HUCIHES, ApRIL 12Tn, 1782 .
Suffren and HuciHES, July Gth, 1782
SuFFKEN and Hu(;hes, September ord, 1782
r>Af:n
119
121
127
4:}0
433
436
441
444
455
457
465
475
470
480
483
491
498
514
515
517
522
523
524
52G
527
528
529
547
551
553
555
559
NAVAL HISTOEY.
CHAPTEE XXVI.
CIVIL HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1714-1762.
Administration of the Navy — The Admiralty Board— The Sick and AVoundad Board —
The Admiralty Buildings— The Navy Office— The Navy Pay Office— First Lords
and Secretaries of the Admiralty, and Principal Officers of the Navy, 1714-1702 —
Naval Expenditure — Increase in various classes of ships — State of the fleet in 1714,
1727, 1752 and 1760 — The introduction of the true frigate — The dimensions of ships
— Conjplements — Small arms — Anchors — Gahles — Method of computing tonnage
— Service ordnance — The armament of ships — S(ime typical men-of-war — Cost of
men-of-war in 1719, 1733 and 1741 — Hadley's quadrant — Harrison's timel<eeper
— Coppering — Sail-cloth — The Eddystone Light — Lighthouses — Lightships — Tlio
King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions — Pilots — Smugglers — Vernon on
smugglers and their dangers — Repression of piracy — The Articles of War —
Greenwich Hospital — The encouragement of seamen — Prize money — Bounties to
seamen — Pay and half-pay — Officers' servants — Promotion to flag-rank — Super-
annuation of Captains — The establishment of uniform for officers — The rough life
of the service — The character of officers — Immorality i>n tlie lower deck — Health
of the Navy.
TAUKING the i^eriod 1714-17(32 very little change
^^ took place in the character of the machinery
whereby the Eoyal Navy was administered. That
machinery had attained a certain degree of perfection,
and was in fairly good working order. The Act of
William and Mary,^ which specified and defined the
functions of the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High
Admiral of England, continued to be the authority in virtue of which
the Admiralty Board acted; and the patent granted to her Admiralty
Board by Queen Anne was substantially reproduced from time to
time as fresh Boards succeeded one another. In the civil depart-
ment, the most important alteration was the appointment, in
1740, of a Sick and Wounded Board. The sick and hurt seamen
of the Navy had been looked after by a Commission in the reign
' 2 W. & M., sess. 2, c. 2.
VOL. III. B
2 CIVIL lIlSTOltV, 171.4-17G2. [1714-1762.
of Willi.iiu III. ; ))ut in 1092 the business Ixad been translerred to
the (Commissioners of the Register Office, and thence, in 1702, to
another separate Commission, which had lasted until ITI-'i. There-
after, for some years, things remained unsettled ; but in 1740, in
consequence of the war with Spain, a Commission was specially
granted to three persons, who were entrusted not only with the care
of sick and wounded seamen, but also with the superintendence of
medical stores supplied for the use of the Navy, the management of
naval hospitals ashore and afloat, the examination and appointment
of naval surgeons, and the maintenance and exchange of prisoners
of war. From 1745 to 1749, this Board consisted of four instead
of three Commissioners ; from 1749 to 1755, of two only ; from
April to November, 1755, of three, as at first ; and from 1755 to
1763, of four. Its offices were on Tower Hill.
The old Admiralty buildings at Wallingford House fell into decay
about the year 1722, when the office of the Commissioners was
temporarily transferred to a house in St. James's Square. The
older part of the present Admiralty buildings in Whitehall, was
completed and occupied in 1725, though not until 1760 was the
colonnade or screen built across the street-side of the court-j'ard to
mitigate the unpleasant effect produced by the attenuated propor-
tions of the columns on the western side of the square. The Navy
Office remained during the period at the corner of Seething Lane
and Crutched Friars ; and the Navy Pay Office was in Old Broad
Street.
The succession of the more important administrative officers was
as follows : —
First Lord op the Admiralty.
Oct. 14, 1714. Edward, Eari of Orford, Admiral.
Ap. 16, 1717. James, Earl of Berkeley, Admiral.
Aug. 2, 1727. George, Viscount Torrington, Admiral.
June 21, 1733. Sir Charles Wager, Kt., Admiral.
Mar. 19, 1742. Daniel, Earl of Winchelsea.
Dec. 1744. John, Duke of Bedford.
Feb. 20, 1748. John, Eari of Sandwich.
June 22, 1751. George, Lord Anson, Admiral.
Nov. 20, 1756. Richard, Eari Temple.
Ap. 1757. Daniel, Earl of Winchelsea.
June 30, 1757. George, Lord Anson, Admiral.
June 19, 1762. George, Eari of Hahfax.
Oct. 16, 1762. George Grenville.
1711-1762.]
nilNCIPAL OFFICERS OF THE KAVY.
Seceetaky of the Admiralty.
Feb.
Dec.
Josiah Burchett.
1742. Thomas Corbett.
1751. John Clevlaiul (with,
John Mihaes).
Treasdkeb of the Navy.
John Aislabie.
1718. Hichard Hampden.
1720. Sir Geo. Byng, Kt., Adni.
1724. Hon. Henry ]?attee Byug.
■ 1725. William Corbett.
1734. Arthur Onslow.
1742. Thomas Clutterbuck.
1742. Sir Charles Wager, Kt.,
Admiial.
1743. Sir John Rusbont, Bart.
1744. George Doddington.
1749. Hon. Henry Bilson Legge.
1754. George Grenville.
George Doddington.
George Grenville.
George Doddington.
George Grenville.
William Wildman, Vis-
count Barrington.
1755
1756
April
1757
June
1757
17G2
April
Jan.
ilar.
Mar.
Feb.
Nov.
June
Dec.
Mar.
June
Aug.
Controller of the Navy.
Sir Charles Wager, Kt.,
Eear-Admiral.
1718. Thomas Swanton (1),
Captain, R.N.
1722. James Mighells, Vice-Ad-
miral.
1734. lUchard Haddock (2),
Captain, E.N.
12, 1749. Savage Mostyn, Captain,
E.N.
1755. Edward Falkingham (1),
Captain, E.N.
1755. Charles Saunders, Cap-
tain, R.N.
1756. Digby Dent (2), Captain,
R.N.
1756. George Cockburne, Cap-
tain, R.N.
Surveyor of the Navy.
William Ijee.
1715. Jacob Ackworth.
1746. Joseph Allin.
— fThonias Slade.
' ■^■'•\ William Bateley
as assistant and deputy,
Clee
V OF THE Acts.
Samuel Atkins.
May
1719.
Tempest Holmes
Sept.
1726.
Thomas Pearce.
April
1743.
John Clevland.
Aug.
1746.
Robert Osborne.
July
1747.
Daniel Devert.
Jan.
1761.
Timothy Brett.
Mar.
1761.
Edward Mason.
Nov.
Aug.
\ Fel).
Mar.
Dec.
Aug.
Mar.
Nov.
Nov.
June
July
Nov,
17.-
Controller of the TREAsaREu's
Accounts.
Dennis Liddell.
1717. Richard Burton.
17, 1727. Sir George Saunders, Kt.,
Captain and Rear-Adui.
1735. George Purvis, Captain,
R.N.
1740. John Philipson.
1743. William Corbett.
1753. Richard Hall.
r. 1761. Timothy Brett.
Controller of the Victualling
Accounts.
Benjamin Timewell.
1714. Eichard Burton.
1717. John Fawler.
1744. Francis Gashry.
1747. Robert Osborne.
Controller of the Storekeeper's
Accounts.
Thomas Jennings, Cap-
tain, R.N.
1714. Charles Cornwall, Cap-
tain, R.N.
Thomas Swanton (1),
Captain, E.N.
William Cleveland, Cap-
tain, R.N.
Robert Byng.
1739. John Philipson.
George Crowle.
Eichard Hall.
George Adams.
Hon. William Bateman,
Captain, R.N.
B 2
July
1716.
April
1718.
May
1732.
May
1739.
Mar.
1740.
Mar.
1752.
Aug.
1753.
Mar.
1761.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
E,\TK.\ CoMMISSIONKllS.
Isaac Towne.sen(l, < 'n|jtaiii,
K.N.
Lawrence ^V^ii!;llt, ('ap-
tain, E.N.
171-). .Tolm Fawlcr.
1717. Thomas Colby.
1727. Sir George Saunders, Kt.,
Captain, 1!.X.
CIVIL niSTOUY, 1711-1702.
June
[I714-17G2.
\~ti\. Artliur Scott, Cai)tain,
K.N.
N'ov. 1755. Thomas Cooper, Captain,
R.N.
Jan. 17'!]. Thomas Hanway, Caj)-
tain, K.N.
Portsrnouth : —
Nov. 1714. Isaac Townesenil, Captain,
R.N.
M.iy 1720. Sir Isaac Townesend, Kt., I ]^^j. 1729. Richard Hughes (1),
Captain, R.N
1731. Robert Byng.
1732. Lord Vere Beauclcrk, Cap-
tain, R.N.
1738. George Crowlc.
1740. Francis Gashry.
Aiiril •;, 1743. James Comjiton, Captain,
R.N.
April (1, 1743. Alexander Geddes, Cap-
tain, K.N.
1744. James Oswald.
174G. Edward Falkinghani (1),
Captain, R.N.
1747. John Russell.
1755. Thomas Cooiser, Captain,
R.N.
1755. Arthur Scott, Captain,
R.N.
1756. Digby Dent (2), Cap-
tain, R.N.
1750. Hon. William Bateman,
Captain, R.N
May
May
May
Mai-
Jan.
May
July
Feb.
Nov.
Mar.
May
Dec.
Captain, R.N.
Feb. 175!. Richard Hughes (2),
Captain, K.N. (Bart.
1773).
Phjrnuiith : — •
Nov. 1714. Sir William Jumper, Kt.,
Captain, R.N.
Mar. 1715. Thomas Swauton, Caii-
tain, R.N.
July 1716. Francis Dove, Captain,
K.N.
April 1726. Sir Nicholas Trevaniou,
Kt., Captain, R.N.
Dec. 9, 17:57. Matthew Norris, Captain,
K.N.
Jan. 173i<. Philij) Vanbrugh, Captain,
R.N.
Oct. 1753. Frederick Rogers, Captain,
R.N. (Bart. 1773).
Beptfvvd and Woohcich ' : —
_ .^■. r, • Henrv Greenhill.
1756. Digbv Dent (2), Caiitam, ,, or- T-it rri " ti-u i r.
° •, , .^.■" ' ' May 26,1(44. Thomas \\ horwood, Cain
R.^ . (agaui). J ' ^ ■ T, XT
^ " ^ tarn, R.N.
Jan. 1745. Edward Falkingham (1),
Captain, R.N.
May 1746. James Compton, Captain,
R.N.
Dee. 1747. William Davies, Captain,
K.N.
Jan. 1761. Edward Mason.
Mar. 1761. Sir Richard Temple.
Mai-. 1761. Sir John Bentley, Cap-
tain, R.N.
Commissioners at H.^I. Dock-
yards, ETC.
f'hntham : —
Nov. 1714 James Littleton, Captain
and Rear-Admiral.
Gihraltar ami Minorrn : —
Dec. 10, 1742. Eilward Falkingham (1),
Captain, R.N.
Mar.
July
April
1722. Thomas Kempthorne, Jime 20, 1744. Thomas Trefusis, Captain,
Captain, R.N.
R.X.
1730. Thomas Mathews, Cap- ; Feb. 25, 1747. John Towry, Captain,
tain, E.N.
R.N.
1742. Charles Brown, Captain, j June 22, 1750. Charles Colby, Captain,
R.N.
R.N.
' The business of these Yards was conducted by the Commissioners in Loudon,
after the death of Captain Davies on February 16th, 1759.
1714-1762.]
THE NAVY ESTIMATES.
The following statement of the sums annually voted by Parlia-
ment for the " extra " and for the " ordinary " expenses of the
Royal Navy, and of the number of seamen and Marines authorised
for each year, is taken from Derrick's ' Memoirs of the Rise and
Progress of the Royal Navy.' ' It should be explained that the
money voted under the head of " extra," was almost invariably
used for building or repairing ships, for providing furniture and
stores for such vessels, or for improving the Royal Dockyards ; but
that, occasionally, portions of the money were employed for the
replenishment of the supplies of hemp, timber, etc., when the
quantities in hand happened to be low, and for other special
services : —
Year.
E.xtra.
Ordiuary.
No. of Seamen
and Marmes.i
Year.
Extra.
Oidiuaiy
Xit. of Seamen
and Marines.!
£
£
£
£
1715
237,277
233,471
((a) 10,000
\(h) 16,000
1739
1740
222,689
199,704
12,000
35,000
1716
230,623
233,849
10,000
1741
184,691
40,000
1717
200,761
226,799
10,000
1742
188,7.56
40,000
1718
165,317
224,857
10,000
1743
188,558
40,000
1719
88,494
212,638
13,. 500
1744
192,834
40,000
1720
79,723
217,918
13,500
1745
200,479
40,000
1721
50,200
219,049
10,000
1746
198,048
40,000
1722
218,799
7,000
1747
196,259
40,000
1723
216,388
10,000
1748
208,827
40,000
1724
214,622
10,000
1749
285,878
17,000
1725
214,295
10,000
1750
197^896
293,625
10,000
1726
212,181
10,000
1751
140,257
290,302
8,000
1727
199,071
20,000
1752
100,000
277,718
10,000
1728
205,561
15,000
17.53
280,206
10,000
1729
206 , 025
15,000
1754
100,000
278,747
10,000
1730
120^618
213,168
10,000
1755
100,000
280,288
12,000
1731
212,034
10,000
1756
200,000
219,021
.50,000
1732
60^000
212,885
8,000
1757
200,000
223,939
55,000
1733
104,003
211,495
8,000
1758
200,000
224,421
60,000
1734
202,670
20,000
1759
200,000
238,491
60,000
1735
198,914
.30,000
1760
200,000
232,629
70,000
1736
30^167
217,269
15,000
1761
200,000
258,624
70,000
1737
50,000
219,201
10,000
1762
200,000
272,226
70,000
1738
40.000
222 , 885
J- (c) 10,000
t(rf) 20,000
1 The cost of these was in addition to the sums specifier! in the " Extra " and ' ' Ordinary " columns,
(a) Number to Midsummer. (&) Number from Midsummer to December 31st. (c) Number to April 10th.
{iT) Number from ,\pril luth to December 31st.
For several years after the death of Queen Anne, the number of
ships belonging to the Royal Navy showed no increase, but rather
a slight diminution. Nevertheless there was, even in those days,
an increase in the total tonnage. But, from the death of George I.
1 4tu. Loufkin, 1806.
CIVIL niSTOJ!); 1711-17'i2.
[17I4-17G2.
onwards, the Navy grew enormously There was no tendency to
add to the number of the first and second rates — vessels which
were only useful for special purposes, and which, as late as the
middle of the eighteenth century,' it was customary to lay up
every winter. Of the third, fifth, and sixth rates, and of the
sloops, on the other hand, increasingly greater numbers were built.
The third rates were the vessels which experience showed to be,
upon the whole, most serviceable for the line-of-battle. The fifth
and sixth rates were the ships with which the country found it
could best deal with the enemy's cruisers ; and the sloops were
THE FRKNcit III riiicibJe, 74. THE SPAXISH GIvrioso, 74.
Taken hi/ I'uii'-Aclininil Anson, 1747. Taken bij the KusseU, 80, 1747.
{From Ihe drawinijs by Clianiock.)
the natural foes of small privateers, and the natural agents for
the general policing of the seas. That the number of fourth rates
did not increase is attributable to the gradual discovery of the
fact that fifty and sixty-gun ships, while too small and hght for
the line-of-battle, were too large and heavy for ordinary cruising
pui-poses. They continued to be built in small numbers, chiefly
because they were suitable craft for service in the colonies, and, as
flagships, on the less important stations, in war, and almost every-
where in peace ; and, because they continued to be built, they
occasionally found their way into the line-of-battle. But occupying,
' \'eruun"s correspondeuce with the Admiralty in 1745 is full of references to the
danger of keeping three-deckers at sea during the winter mouths.
1T14-1TG1'.]
STRENGTH OF THE FLEET.
as they did, an intermediate position Ijetween the linc-oi-biiitlesliips
and the regular cruiseris, and belonging positively to neither, their
value was limited in l)i>th directions.
The " state " of the fleet at four different dates during th(! period
now under review is given below ; —
Rates oit Classes.
First-rates, 100 guns .
.Sfciiml-ratos. 84 to 90 guns .
Tliiril-ratcs, (J4 to 80 guns .
Fuurtli-rati'S, 50 ' to (iO guns.
Ships of tlic line, or of 50 guns ^
and upwards .... I
Death of
Queen Aiiue.
Aug. 12th, 17U.
Burthen
Tons.
131
12
Fifth-rates, 30 to 44 guTis .
Sixth-rates, 10 - to 30 guns .
Sloops, 8 to 20 guns .
Bombs
Fireships
Busses
Storeships
Hospital ships
Yachts j 15
Hoys, lighters, transports . 13
Hulks S
Ships under the line, or of ) , , ,.
less than 50 guns . . . (■ ^"
Total ships of all classes . i247
11,703
19,323
47,708
Death i)f
George I.
June lOtb, 1727.
No.
51,379, 04
130,173124
19,836
0,(31
8G9
597
263
"516
1,521
1,009
5,774!
Burthen
Tons.
Peace.
Dec. 31st, 1752.
Burthen
Tons.
12,945 5
20,125 13
47,9.58
."50,754
131,782132
15,0G5 39
9,700 39
1,390
417
1,057
37,046109
167,219233
546
532
1,378
1,216
7,719
39,080159
9,602
21,2.50
65,277
69,1.55
Death of
George II.
Oct. 25th, 1700.
Burthen
Tous.
9,958
22.825
109,494
07,901
165,284155 : 210,177
28,813: 54
19,129' 61
8,036
1,104
678
iil95
2,037
8,648
39,173
31,618
12,859
4,117
2,337
242
1.554
2,791
1,518
2,761
11,957
69,640 257
170,802 291 I 234,924412
110,927
321,104
1 The 50-guu ships were not couuted as of the liue-of-battle after about 1756.
- l\Iost ships of under 20 ginis were cuuute.t as sloops, ^'.t'., Commanders' commands, after ahout ITou.
The Seven Years' War (1756-1762) saw the introduction to the
service of a class of vessel which, for nearly a hundred years after-
wards, was of the highest value. This was the regular frigate,
built to cruise at good speed, and carrying a . reasonably heavy
armament on one deck. There had previously been no vessels
that thoroughly fulfilled this ideal. The forty -four, and even the
forty-gun ships of an earlier date were cramped two-deckers ; and
below them, until after 174.5, there was nothing more formidable
than the wretched twenty-gun ship, carrying nine-pounders as her
heaviest weapons. Genuine frigates, mounting twenty-eight guns,
began to be built about 1748 ; but still no larger gun than the nine-
pounder found a place in them. The twelve-pounder thirty-two-
gun frigate appeared at about the same time, the earliest examples
8
CIVIL IIISTOBY, 1714-1702.
[I714-I7C2.
being the Adventure (1741), and Diana, Juitu, Suuthuinj)tun, and
Vestal (1757). Then came the twelve-pounder thirty-six-gun frigates,
the best British fighting cruisers of the days before the accession of
George III. The first of these, the PaUan and the Brilliant, were
built under the superintendence of Sir Thomas Slade in 1757. Yet
even they were inferior to thirty-six-gun frigates which were in
possession of the French at about the same time. In a table
given hereafter, the student will find materials for comparing the
British Brilliant, 36, of 1757 with the French Aurore, which was
captured from her original owners in 1758, and added to the Royal
Navv as the Aurora, 3(5.
THE Terrible 74. taken from the i-kench, 1747.
(Fnnn a dniwir/g hij John Chantuc.k.)
The first half of the eighteenth century witnessed repeated
efforts to establish unvarying standards of size, tonnage, and
armament for each of the classes of men-of-war then in most
general use. At least two of these efforts — those of 1719 and
of 1745 — met with considerable success ; and the rules tentatively
adopted in each of those years were for some time largely, though
not exclusively, adhered to in the construction of ships. But it was
probably discovered that to aim at rigorous uniformity was to check
improvement ; and, after about the year 1755, all efforts in this
direction were wisely relinquished. Seeing, however, that many
vessels were built according to these successive "establishments,"
1714-17Gli.]
EUTABLISHMKNliS AND liATEH.
9
it may not l)e deemed improper to give here some particulars of
them : —
■Ih
ee-deckers.
'J
wo-det-kers.
24
98
t
20
'^^5
No. of guns ....
100
and
80
74 70 : 64 60 53
44
40
i^
90
1 ! i
1719
Length ou gundeck, ft. in.
174 0
164 0 158 0
. . 151 0 . . 144 0 134 0
124 0
106 0
Length of keel for ton i
nape,' ft. in j
140 ?
132 5128 2
.. |123 2 .. 117 7
109 8
101 8
87 9
Breailth, extreme, ft. in. .
50 0
47 2 44 6
.. ] 41 6 ..
39 0
36 0
33 2
28 4
Depth in hold. it. in. . .
20 0
IS 10 18 2
..17 4 ..
16 5
15 2
14 0
9 2
Burthen in ions
1869
1666 1350
.. 1 1128 [ ..
an
756
594
--^
374
1733
Length on gundeck, ft. in.
1V4 0
166 0 158 0
151 0 ..
144 0
134 0
124 0
106 0
§
Length of keel for t(»u-|
nage. ft. in J
140 7
134 1
127 8
122 0, ..
116 4
108 3
100 3
85 8
p
Breailth, extreme, ft. in. .
50 0
47 9
45 5
43 5] ..
41 5' 38 6
35 8
30 6
a
5
Depth ill Iiold, ft. in. . .
20 6
19 6
18 7
17 9 ..
16 11 15 9
14 6
9 5
Burthen in tons . . .
1869
1623
1400
1224 1 ..
1068 853
678
- -
429
■^
1741
Length on gundeck, ft. in.
175 0
163 0 161 0
154 0 ..
147 0 140 0
126 0
••
112 0
Length of keel for ton-j
nage, ft. in j
142 4
137 0 130 10
125 6 ..
119 9 113 9
1
102 6
••
91 6
A
Breadth, extreme, ft. in. .
50 0
48 0 46 0
44 o' ..
42 0
40 0
3G 0
32 0
■^
Depth in hold. ft. in. . .
21 0
20 2, 19 4
18 111 ..
IS 1
17 2i
15 5i
H 0
Burthen in tons . . .
1892
1079
1472
165 0
1291 j ..
1123
968
706
498
1745
Length on gundeck, ft. in.
178 0
170 0
160 0 .. 150 0 144 0
133 0
113 0
Length of keel for tou-|
nage, ft. in J
144 6i
138 4134 101
131 4 ..
123 Oijn7 8i
108 10
93 4
Breadth, extreme, ft. in. .
51 0
48 6 47 0
45 0 ..
42 8
41 0
37 0
32 0
\
Depth in hold, ft. in. . .
21 6
20 6 20 0
19 4 ..
1< 6
17 8
16 0
11 0
Burthen in tons . . .
2000
1730 1585
1414 . .
1191
1052
814
• •
508
(
1719
Complement of men . .
780
680
620
440 ' ..
365
2S0
190
130
?'
I7:w
11 H )1 • -
850
750
600
480
400
300
250
140
■i)
1741
>1 H >) • •
850
750
600
4«0
400
300
250
140
(
1745
.•
860
750
650
000
520
470
180
420
350
280
160
/
1745
fMusket:^, bayonets, cavt-l
\ ridge-boxes . . ■. ./
200
200
200
120
100
SO
a'/
Piiii-s -of pistols ....
50
50
50
50
40
30
20
Poie-axes (l)oarding-axes)
50
50
50
50 ..
40
35
50
i
Swords (cutlasses) with i
belts (
200
200
200
200 . .
140
120
80
\
Hand ^ Hades ....
200
200
200 , ..
1.0, ..
100
100
31-5
100
!l
1719
f Weight of bower auchors, )
i cwts )
77
67-5 1 61-5 ..
51-5
.. 46-5 1 39-5
21
^TA^ (Weight of bower audiurs, i
^^*^ 'I cwts f
81
73-5 1 69-5 69-5
58-7
.. 53
49
40-5
29-5
Jl
1719
/Diameter of bo*er cables, t
i in /
23
22
21
19-5
18-5
17-5
■•
16
..1 14
6\
1745
fDiameter of bower cables.l
I in )
24
23
22
22
21
,.
20
19
17-5
15
I In 1719 IbL- uicthod of deteruuuiug the length of keel for tonnage, and the rule for ooluimting tonnage, were
settled by the Lords of the Admiralty as follows : —
" On a straight line with the lower part of the rabbit of the keel ere.t a perpendieidar or square line to the
upper edge of the wiug transjm, at the afterpart of the plauk ; and, at the stern, to the forepart of the plank at
5th8 p^rt of the height of the wiug transom. The length between the said perpendiculars, added to -„»^"' of the
extreme breadth (allowing for the stern and stern post without the rabbit), from which subtract ,^'Vths of the
height of the wiug tran,s<jm for the rake abaft, and also ^'i>» of tue main breadth for the rake afore, leaves
the length of the keel for tonnage. Multiply this by the breadth, ami the product by half the breadth, and
divide by 94. The result gives the tonnage."
A simpler and more commonly-used method, both before and after tlo- official adoption of the above highly-
conventional formula, was: to multiply the length of the keel into the e.Ktreme breadth of the ship withiu-board,
taken along the midship beam, and to multiply the product by the depth of the hold from the plank joining to the
keelson upwards to the main deck ; and to divide the last product by 94. The result gave the burthen in tons.
See Derrick ; ' Mems. of the Roy. Navy,' 301 ; Falconer, * Diet, of the .Marine ' ; Willett, in ' Archa'ologia,' ii. 154.
The last erroneously says that the nnmber to be divided by was 96.
The establishments of 1733 and 1741 were proposed, but never
10
CIVIL II] STORY, 1714-1702.
[17U-17G2.
officially adopted. Many ships were nevertheless bnilt in accord-
ance with them.
The establishniont of 174.5 was generally adhered to for about
ten years. There was never afterwards any regular estabbshnient
so far as dimensions were concerned.
The mode in which these and other vessels of the period were
armed can be seen at a glance on reference to the tables on the
following pages.
Although practically all the ships of the Navy were armed ac-
cording to a regular "establishment" as thus indicated, many vessels
were built upon lines which differed from any of the " establish-
ments " for dimensions and tonnage ; and it is therefore well to give
particulars of a few craft, both British built ships and prizes taken
from the enemy and added to the service, which may be regarded
either as typical specimens of the best home constructions of the
time, or as models, the capture of which drew the attention of
British constructors to points wherein foreign designers excelled
them. These will be foixnd on page 12.
The estimated cost of building and equipping a ship of each of
the principal classes, and of storing her with eight months' boat-
swain's and carpenter's stores, according to the Navy Board Regula-
tions, was, in 1719, 1733, and 1741 respectively : —
Guns.
171'J
1733
1741
R.ME.
Cost
OF
Total
Cost
ready
for Sea.
Cost
OF
Total
Ci«t
ready
for Sea.
Cost
of
Total
Hull,
Masts and
Yards.
Kigging
aud
•Stores.
Hull,
Masts and
Yards.
Eigg'ng
and
Stores.
Hull,
Masts and
Y'ards.
Rigging
aud
Stores.
Co,.t
ready
for S^a.
I
100
32,707
£
7,476
£
40,183
£
32,725
£
7,957
40,682
£
33,110
£
8,050
£
41,151
TT
00
26,622
6,264
.32,886
27,591
6,897
34,488
28,543
7,1.35
35,678
111
HO
21,937
5,400
27,337
22,7,50
5,950
28,700
23,920
6,256
30,176
70
17,202
4,512
21,714
18,666
5,202
23,868
19,687
5,488
25,175
IV
60
1 14, 027
3,804
17,831
15,753
4,539
20,292
16,564
4,786
21,350
.50
'10,192
3,020
13,212
11,753
3,625
15,140
13,064
4,117
17,185
V
40
I 6,355
2,356
8,731
7,254
2,881
10,1.35
7,554
3,003
10,557
VI
20
3,216
1,496
4,712
3,689
1,823
5,512
4,282
2,117
6,399
Many improvements which increased the material efficiency of
the Royal Navy were made in the period 1714-1762. One of these
was the invention of the reflecting quadrant, an invention usiially
associated with the name of Doctor Hadley, and introduced by him
XT14-17G1'.] GUNS. 11
l'AI!'J'li'tI|,Ai;S (IF Sf.KVK'K OuNS (EsTABI.TSIlMENT OF 171.'!).'
CHAKGES.
Wiii'iagr-
Nature.2
Ijeugth.
Wcigbt.
Calibre.
-
Allow-
Proof.
Service.
Saluting.
Scaling.
ance.
Ft.
In.
Cwt.
111.
Lb. 055.
Lb. oz.
Lb. 07,.
Lb.
oz.
In.
42-pomuler
10
0
G5
7-03
25 0
17 0
11 4
3
4
■35
32-poundei-
i)
G
55
6-43
21 8
14 0
9 1
»>
12
" 'V\
24-pounder (a)
9
6
50
5-84
18 0
11 0
7 0
2
0
•;iO
(i)
9
0
46
! '
, ,
,
, ,
18-pounder («)
9
(i
42
5-3
15 0
9 0
(i (.)
1
8
'27
(i)
9
0
39
, ,
12-pouiider (a)
9
6
.",(;
4-i;4
12 0
6 0
4 12
1
0
•24
• „ (?')
9
0
32
, ,
J J
(«)
H
6
31
, ,
9 -pounder (o)
9
0
28-5
4-22
9 0
4 8
4 i)
12
•22
(i)
8
6
27
, ^
J '
(c)
H
0
2fi
, ,
, ,
('^)
(
G
24
, ,
» )
(.e)
1
0
23
, ,
(i-poimder (a)
9
0
24-5
;m;7
G 0
3 0
3 0
8
•111
(h)
8
6
22
, ,
, ,
(v)
8
0
21
, ,
) )
(d)
1
G
20
, ,
> '
,
(«)
t
0
19
, ,
, ,
, ,
(/)
i;
G
17
, ,
, ,
4-pouiider
;V22
4 0
2 0
2 0
6
■is
3-pounder
4
G
7
2-91
3 0
1 S
1 8
4
•14
i-pouudei' ^ .
'■'
i;
1-r.
I -(III
s
1
-1
1
1 From Mouutaine, 'Practical Sea-Guuner"s Cfmipaniou,' 174".
- The reference letters in this column refer to the similar letters employeil in the next table (Disposition of Guns).
3 These were swivels, usually inounteil on the bulwarks, etc., anil sometimes referred to as patereroes.
Disposition of the Gcxs ls the vaiiious Cl.%.sses op H. M. Smrs, 171G. 1743. 17;"i7.
I Low er Deck.
Deck.
Classes op Ships.
Kg. Prs. I No. I Prs.
Upper Deck.
Quarter
Deck.
No. Prs. No. Prs.
100 .'lius.
90
80
74
70
(large class) .
(ordinary class)
„ (large class) .
„ (ordinary c4nss)
„ (large class) .
„ (ordinary class)
C4 ,
GO „ (large class) .
,, (ordinary class)
58
(small class) .
50 „ (large class) .
1716 28
1743
1757
1757
1716
1743
1757
1757
1716
1743
1757
1757
1757
171G
1757
1743
1737
1757
1716
1757
17.37
1743
1757
{''3">«
42 or
32
42 28
' 42 I 28
32 I 30
32 j 26
> 32 26
32 , 26
32 26
32 I 2G
32 1 26
32 I 26
32 I ..
32 ..
24 ..
32 ..
32 ..
24 , ..
24 ..
24 ..
24 ..
24 I ..
24(a)| ..
1 24 I . .
24 I 28
24(a) 28
1 24 28
j 18 30
18 26
18(a) 26
18 I 26
18 24
12 I 24
18(6)
12
24
24
30
28
26
28
26
2G
26
26
26
26
24
22
12
12
6
4
12(.0
12
G(f)
4
12
12
G
4
12
;i
1(1
6
12(/.)
10
G((()
12
1)
(i
10
4
4
i;
li
ti
d(u)
4
6 ((0
6
4
G
24
12
9
4
18
14
9
4
12
14
G
4
18
12
9
2
IS (i) 10
12 10
12
'J
12
9
12(a)
12
•JOI) 2
6 2
G 2
6 2
G 2
6 2
G((/) 2
6 2
G(a)
(J
1)
G
G(c)
6
!)
I)
G
9
9 0')
G
G
G
G
<;
G(;,)
6
12
CIVIL lIISTOItY, 1714-1762.
Disi'ijsiTiON (IK THE GrN.s, ETC. — Continued.
[1714-1TG2.
Classes of Sllirs
50 guns (ordinary class)
44
40
36
32
30
28
24
20
14
12
10
8
,. (liirjrt! ('lass) .
,, (ordinary class)
,, (ship-rigged)
III
Lower Deck.
Middle
Deck.
Upper Deck.
(^uarUrr
Deck.
Forecastle.
No.
Pre.
No.
Pre. 1 No.
Pre.
No. Prs.
No.
Pre.
1716
22
18
.. 1 22
9
4 6
2
6
1743
1757
22
24(h)
18
.. ! 22
.. 22
12(c)
9
4
4
6(e)
6
2
2
6(c)
6
1757
20
18
.. 22
9
2
6
1743
1757
20
20
18(6)
18
20
20
9(c)
9
4
6(/)
4
c'
1716
20
12
.
20
6
..
1757
26
12
8
6
2
6
1757
26
12
4
6
2
6
1716
8
9
.. 20
6
2
4
17.i7
24
9
4
3
1757
1716
2
9(e)
20
20
9(e)
6
2 3
1743
20
9
1757
20
9
1757
14
6
1757
12
4
1757
10
4
1757
8
3
TyI'
CAL SUIPS OF WaH, 1
'14-1762.
Length of
Ship.
Dat.' of
Launch
1
—
Beam. Depth.
Hurthen
in Tons.
Where, and by whom Built.
12
Deck, i '"«'•
ft.
in. : ft.
in.
ft.
in. ft.
in.
Royal Sovereign 100
1728
175
0
140
7 50
3i20
1
1883
Chatham, J. EosewcU.
Boyal George
100
1756
178
0
143
5J51
9*21
6
2047
Woolwich, J. Pownall.
Bartkur
90
1716
163
0
131
9' 47
3 IS
6
1565
Deptford.
Blenheim
90
1761
176
1
142
3 49
1 21
0
1S27
AVoolwieb. J. Pownall.
Cornwall
80
1726
158
0 il2S
2 44
6 IS
2
1350
Deptford.
Primess Amelii
I ' 80
1757
165
0 ll33
0 47
3 20
0
1579
Woolwich, J. Pownall.
Invhicihle .
74
*1747
171
3 il39
Oi-19
3 21
3
1793
*Takeu from the French.
Terrible. .
74
*1747
164
1 ,133
11*47
3 20
7i
1590
*TfiUen from the French.
Mars
74
1759
165
6 1134
4 46
3 19
9
1556
Woolwich. .1. Pownall.
Princesa
70
*1740
165
1 ll30
3 49
8 22
3
1709
*Tal£en from the Spaniards.
Monmouth .
70
1742
151
0 123
2 43
5 17
9
1225
Deptford.
Dorsetshire .
70
1757
162
0
134
4S44
10 19
8
1436
Portsmouth. E. Allen.
Captain .
64
1743
151
0
122
0 43
6 17
9
1230
Woolwich, J. Holland.
Fhjmnuth .
60
1722
144
7
118
0
39
(1 16
5
954
Chatham.
lit pan .
60
1758
155
5
128
0
42
7 IS
7
1242
Woolwich, J. Pownall.
Conquistador
60
*1762
155
9 128
6
43
3 19
3
1278
*Taken from theSpaniards.
Oxford . .
50
1727
134
6 109
10
36
3 15
2
767
Portsmouth.
Bomney .
50
1752
146
0 1120
Si 30
4*17
2
1046
Woolwich. J. Harris.
Ludlow Castle
44
1744
126
10|'103
8 36
3' 15
5i
725
Thames.
Phainix .
44
1759
140
9 ill6
10J37
1|16
0
856
Thames. M. Batsou.
Brilliant .
36
1757
128
4 [106
2; 35
8 12
4
718
Plymouth.
Aurora .
36
*1758
144
0 ills
9 38
Si 15
2
946
*Taken from the French.
Juno
32
1757
127
10 107
Oi34
3 11
10
667
Thames, Alexander.
Crescent .
32
*175S
130
5 107
6i35
9 11
2
731
*Taken from the French.
Co rent ry
28
1757
118
43 97
OA 34
OJIO
6
599
Beaulieu, H. Adams.
Doljihiu.
24
1751
113
0 93
4 32
1 11
0
511
Woolwich. Fellowes.
Gibraltar .
20
1756
107
SJ 88
0 30
4 9
8
430
Beaulieu, H. Adams.
Scorpion
14
1746
91
2 74
11*26
4 12
0
276
Beaulieu.
Furnace^ lu iiuli
14
1740
91
6 73
111
26
4 11
0
273
Thames.
Terror, bomb
8
1759
91
6 : 74
1*
27
8 12
1
301
Harwich, Barnard.
Princess Angus
a' vt.
1710
73
8 1 57
7A
22
61 9
6
155
Deptford. J. Allen.
Boyal Charlotte
v(.
174!)
90
0 ' 72
2l 24
7 11
0
''32
Dc|itt'ord. .7. Holland.
ITlil.]
IIAIiTi rSON'S TIMEKEEl'Kli.
13
about 17.'51. ]!at after Hadley's doatli, there was found ainoiii^' liis
papers a dnciiinent in the handwritin<,' of Sir Isaac Newton, con-
taining a drawing and description of an instrument somewhat
similar to Hadley's ; so that, apparently, the credit of the innova-
tion should he divided between these men of science, if not given
altogether to the elder of them.
The efforts which had been made under Queen Anne to induce
inventors to turn their attention to the perfection of methods for
discovering the longitude at sea, were continued ; and in 1753 a new
HADLEV S QUADRANT.
{From Juh/t liohcrtwu's ^ Elinncnta of Navigatiuti^ Luitdoit, 1742. >
Act was passed in furtherance of the desired object. In 1761 the
Board of Longitude decided to give official trial to the timekeepers
of Mr. Harrison, a watchmaker who had produced a clock or
chronometer of unusual accuracy ; and at the instance of the Board,
the Admiralty placed the Deptford, 50, Captain Dudley Digges, at
Mr. Harrison's disposal for the purpose. The ship, with Harrison
on board, sailed from Portsmovith on November 18th ; and, both at
Madeira and at Jamaica, it was found that the timekeeper which
had been experimented with still showed the correct time. From
Jamaica, Harrison returned to England in the Merlin, 14, Captain
]4 rjvjL JiisTonr, 1711-1702. [1755.
Eichard Carteret. On March •2:Siil, ITIi'i, the Mrrlin fell in with
the Essex, G4, Captain Alexander Schombei'g, which had been off
Scilly on the preceding evening. Her reckoning agreed exactly with
that of the timekeeper ; and on the '26th, when Harrison reached
Portsmouth, he found that his instrument, in spite of much shaking
owing to had weather, had lost only 1 minute 54 'o seconds since it
had left England more than four months earher. This result mai'ked
a great advance upon anything that had been attained up to that time.
It was at about the same time that the experiment of coppering
ships' bottoms to preserve them against the w'orm was first officially
tried in the Navy. In 1761, the Alarm, 32, was so treated, but,
although the effect was found to be satisfactory, the general
introduction of the improvement was impeded for several years,
owing to the galvanic action which was set up between the copper
and the iron bolts of the vessel's hull, and to the evils which this
action wrought. The difficulty was ultimately got over by using
only copper fastenings in the under-w"ater portion of ships'
hulls ; yet it was not until 1783 that this measure of precaution
was ordered to be generally adopted, and, until then, copper
sheathing, while applied to specimens of every class of ships,
was very far from being universal in the service.
To encourage home manufactures, it was enacted in 1746 that
every ship built in Great Britain or in the American colonies should,
when first prepared for sea, be provided wdth a suit of sails made of
cloth woven in Great Britain, under penalty of £50 ; and that every
sailmaker in Great Britain or the plantations should, upon failing
to place his name and address legibly and fully upon each new sail
made by him, be fined ^10.
After the burning of Budyard's wooden tower in 1755, the
lessees of the Eddystone Light, by the advice of the Eoj'al Society,
placed the work of constructing a new" lighthouse in the hands of
John Smeaton, F.E.S., a distinguished engineer. Smeaton built
his tower entirely of stone, dovetailing every block into its neigh-
bours, and so making the column practically solid. Operations were
begun on August 5th, 1756 ; the first stone was formally laid on
June 12th, 1757, and the last on August 24th, 1759 ; and a hght
from twenty-four candles, weighing five to two pounds,* was shown
' Smeaton invented a timepiece, wliich struck a single blow every half hour,
and so warned the keejiers to snufl' these candles. The original now belongs to the
Corporation of Trinity House.
1731.] KING'S REGULATIONS AND ADMIIIALTI INSTRUCTIONS. 15
from the rock on October llitli, 175i), aiul thenceforward every iiiglit
until 1810, when the candles gave place to oil lamps and reflectors.
Smeaton's tower, it is almost needless to add, remained effective
until, in 1879-81, owing to the base on which it stood having been
seriously shaken by the sea, a new tower, Douglass's, had to be
built on a neighbouring rock, i'ai't of Smeaton's tower was there-
upon removed, and reconstructed on Plymouth Hoe.
Several other lighthouses which were in their day triumphs of
engineering, were erected during the first half of the eighteenth
century. One of the best known towers, that on the island of
Skerries, near Holyhead, dates from 1730. At about the same time,
also, lightships began to be placed round the coasts. The one first
moored in Enghsh waters was fitted out in 1731 by Mr. Eobert
Hamblin for the Nore Sand, at the mouth of the Thames ; the next,
in 1736, by Mr. Daniel Avery for the Dudgeon Shoal, Norfolk.
Until 1730, every commander-in-chief, with the sanction of the
Admiralty, issued his own code of instructions. In that year the
volume of material provided by the accumulations of lapsed codes
was in some measure digested ; many additional instructions were
set forth ; the principles of naval usage were crystallised ; and
in 1731 there appeared the first issue of ' The King's Regulations
and Admiralty Instructions.' This book has since been revised at
intervals, but it remains in substance very much what it was in
1731, and most of the important alterations that have been made in
it are merely such as have been necessary to bring it into confoiTuity
with modern ideas and modern conditions.^
In 1717, the rate of pilotage for pilots of Deal, Dover, and
Thanet, taking charge of ships in the Thames and Medway, was
fixed by Act of Parliament at ten shillings per foot of draught. The
Act was subsequently amended with a view to prevent these pilots,
who, of coirrse, possessed exceptional opportunities for smuggling,
from engaging in that pursuit. The repression of smuggling, indeed,
was a burning question during the whole of the period now under
review, and especially in war time. The smuggler, besides being a
professional cheater of the revenue, was, of necessity, a man of lax
patriotism and easy conscience, and one whose success depended
upon his maintenance of good relations with both sides of the
' 'The King's Eegulations and Ailuiiialty Instructions' contain, as it were, the
civil code of the Navy. The penal code is supplied by the Xaval Discipline Act.
Sue p. 17, infra.
16 CIVfL HISTORY, 1714-17i;2. [1745.
Chatinel. He was, consequently, ever available as a spy. The
frequency with which he impeded, and sometimes even confounded,
the operations of the Navy, appears in the correspondence of several
of the flag-officers of the time ; and there is very little doubt that
the many treacherous betrayals, which, in the reigns of the first two
Georges, prevented the secret carrying out of naval plans and
combinations, were, as often as not, attributed to grave Jacobite
and French sympathisers, when they were really the work of
persons owning no more serious political conviction than that he
who paid duty was a fool. There are several pregnant references
to this subject in the letters of Admiral Edward Vernon, who was
in command in the Downs at the time of the young Pretender's
descent in 1745. Advocating the more extensive recruiting of the
Navy from the seaport towns, he writes of men who " are now
thought to he principally employed in the ruin of their country by
the smuggling trade, and as daily spies to give the enemy intelligence
of our proceedings," and goes on to say : —
"I can't but tliink it a seasonable time to suggest to their Lordships tliat there are
said to be in tliis town of Deal not less than twn hmidred able young men and seafaring
people who are known to have no visible way of getting a living but b,y the infamous
trade of smuggling, many keeping a horse and arms to be ready at all calls. At Dover,
it is conjectured, there may be four hundred : at Eanisgate and Folkestone, three
hundred each. And it is said that, within these three weeks, no less than nine cutters
at a time have gone off from Folkestone to Boulogne; and it is conjectured that, from
the town of Folkestone only, a thousand pounds a week is run over to Boiilogne in the
smuggling wa.y. And, about six or seven days past, a Dover cutter landed goods in the
niglit under the Castle, that was carried off by a party of sixty horse, and the cutter
supposed to have done it came into Dover pier next day ; and, though most believed it
was she, no one proceeded against them in any inquiry about it. This smuggling has
converted those employed in it, first from honest, industrious fishermen, to lazy, drunken,
and profligate smugglers, and now to dangerous spies on all oiu- proceedings, for the
enemy's daily information." '
And again : —
" Captain Scott, in the Badger, is just returned from his cruise off the coast of
Sussex. On the 25th of last month he was informed of a cutter being going from
Fairleigh to Boulogne that night ; but she was gone over before he could get there.
t)n the 3rd of this month, he got sight of the French dogger privateer, and chased him,
and neared him as the other was edging down to get to leeward of him ; and, when he
got within shot of him, he exchanged some guns with him; but the other, getting
afore the wind and hoisting her studding sails as the night was coming on, he soon lost
sight of him. He has the repute there of being a confederate with the smugglers, and a
convoy to them. I send you enclosed Captain Scott's day's work, when he seized two
of the smugglers' boats, in which you have the names of the two reputed notorious
' Letter of November 13th, 1745. Letter Book in Author's Coll.
1749] rill': AirncLEs of wail 17
smugglers tlu-y belong to: wliich are Ueorge Harrison and Zebuloii Morphet; ami a
copy of the Collector of Oustoms' certiticate that they are reputed as such. And a
little before that, above a hundred horse had been upon the shore to carry off goods
brought by another cutter ; and, by all accounts, they carry on as great an intercourse
with tlie French now as they did in time of profound peace with them : by which they
are undoubtedly their daily spies to inform them of all our proceedings. I am informed
there are lawyers who say, as the laws now stand, such an intercourse with his
Majesty's enemies is now by our laws high treason ; and, if so, I should think we want
a speedy proclamation to inform these infamous wretches that it is high treason ; and
they shall be prosecuted as such ; for, surely, no nation but this would suffer itself to
be daily betrayed with impunity."
While smuggling and smugglers' treachery at home engaged the
attention of the authorities, piracy required, once more, their
energetic interference in the West Indies ; and on September 5th,
1717, a proclamation was issued, offering a pardon for piracies
committed before January 5th, 1717, to all such pirates as should
surrender themselves withiri a twelvemonth. After the expiration
of that period of grace, a reward would be paid to any of his
Majesty's officers, by sea or land, upon the legal conviction of a
pirate taken by him. The rewards promised were : tor a captain
(master) iilOO ; for any officer from a lieutenant down to a gunner,
£40 ; for any inferior officer, £30. Any private seaman or other man
who should deliver up a pirate captain (master) or " commodore,"
would, upon the offender's conviction, be entitled to ,£'200.
In 1749, there was brought in "a Bill for amending, explaining,
and reducing into one Act of Parliament, the laws relating to the
Navy." One of the results of this Bill, had it been passed in its
original form, would have been to subject officers on half-pay to
martial law. The measure was, in consequence, strongly opposed
and petitioned against. The upshot was that the obnoxious clauses
were deleted. The Bill then passed ; all older laws for the govern-
ment of the Navy were repealed ; and, in place of them, the first
regular Articles of War ^ were estabhshed. In the same year, another
Act authorised the Admiralty for the first time to grant commissions
to flag-officers, or officers commanding-in-chief, to assemble courts-
martial in foreign parts.
The changes and alterations which more intimately affected the
' This was the Consolidation Act of George II. 22. It was based upon the Act of
13 Car. II. c. 9. Being found to be too stringent, it was amended in 19 Geo. III.
In the amended form, it is the foundation of the existing Articles of War; which, in
almost exactly their present guise, date from 1847. The proper name of the measure is
The Naval Discipline Act. It receives small alterations and amendments from time
to time.
VOL. III. C
18 CIVIL IlISTOUY, 1714-1701.'. [1711-1762.
personnel of the Eoyal Navy between 1714 and 1762, were numerous.
The more important of those relating chiefly or exclusively to the
seamen may be first noted.
In 1735 an Act ^ appropriated the forfeited Derwentwater estates
to the completion and support of Greenwich Hospital, and extended
the benefits of the Hospital so as to allow maimed merchant seamen
to participate more fully in them. A little later two naval Acts were
passed. One was for procuring a better supply of seamen to serve
in the Navy ; for permitting merchant vessels to be navigated by-
foreign seamen in a proportion not exceeding three-fourths of the
crew ; and for giving the right of naturalisation to such foreigners,
after two years' service in British ships. The other was to prevent
the impressment of seamen aged fifty and upwards, or aged less
than eighteen ; of foreigners serving in merchant vessels ; of sea
apprentices of under three years' service ; and of all persons under-
going their first two years' service at sea.^ In 1749, Mr. Henry
Pelham brought in a Bill to revive the sj'stem of registering seamen ;
but, it being violently opposed, he withdrew it. In 17-58, another
Bill, brought in by Mr. George Grenville, though opposed in the
Upper House, was ultimately carried. It provided in general for
the encouragement of naval seamen, and, in particular, for the
establishment of more regular and frequent payment of wages ; and
for enabling seamen to remit money for the support of their wives
and families by means of tickets payable in cash on demand by any
collector of customs or excise. An Act of 1747 authorised masters
of merchant vessels to detain from the wages of their seamen
sixpence a month, as a provision for the widows and children of
men drowned.
On April 3rd, 1744, a royal declaration assigned to the officers
and crews of men-of-war all property in prizes taken by them : and,
to the officers and crews of privateers and letters of marque, such a
proportion as might be conceded to them by the agreement of the
owners. It also provided that shares not claimed within three years
should go to Greenwich Hospital.
Bounties to seamen were several times offered. In 1734, the
rate was '20s. for an able-bodied seaman, and 15s. for an able-bodied
landsman. lu 1740, it was 4'2s. for an able-bodied, and 30s. for an
ordinary seaman. In 1742, it rose to 100s. for an able-bodied, and
60s. for an ordinary seaman ; and it was further ordered that the
' 8 Geo. II. c. 29. ^ 13 Qg^^ ji_ g_ 3_
IT^O.j OFFICERS' PAY. 19
widows of such bounty men as should be killed on service were to be
granted a sum equivalent to a year's pay of their late husbands. In
the same year, apparently to keep down rivalry, pay in the merchant
service was, for a time, restricted by Act of Parhament to a
maximum of 35s. a month.
The pay of officers remained as it had been at the conclusion of
the period 1660-1714 ; but the position of officers of nearly every
rank was improved in various ways. Surgeons were, for the first
time, given half-pay in 1729 ; and, in 1749, an increased number,
both of surgeons and of masters, were granted half-pay. The
number then entitled to it was, in each case, fifty, of whom the first
thirty received 2s. &d., and the remaining twenty, 2s. a day.
The number of domestics and servants allowed to officers had been
considerably reduced at the end of the seventeenth, but was again
increased in the first half of the eighteenth century ; and, in 1740, it
stood thus : — '
Adniiral nf the Fleet . ,50, of whom 16 only to be borne as servants on the books.
Admiral .... 30, „ 12
Vice-Admiral . . . 20, „ 10
Rear- Admiral . . . 15, „ 10 „ „ „
Captain . . . . -t jier 100 of the complement.
1, in ships having GO men or above.
Lieutenant, Master, \
Second Master, Pur- 1
ser, Surgeon, Chap- j
lain and Cook, each '
Boatswain, Grunner,-! 2, in ships having 100 men or upwards, and 1 in ships
":}
Carpenter, each. ./ liaving between 100 and GO.
This generous allowance of servants permitted captains to take to
sea with them young gentlemen who aspired to the position of
officer ; and the better captains usually benefited the service by
having with them a large proportion of "servants" of that kind,
training under their own eyes. Yet, even captains who were heartily
devoted to the interests of their profession, took with them to sea, in
those days, many retainers of a class that would, nowadays, be
deemed very superfluous in a man-of-war. Tailors, barbers, footmen
and fiddlers, followed their patron. As late as 1785, Commodore
Edward Thompson, who, it is true, always had his quarter-deck
crowded with such young gentlemen as were destined, a few years
later, to shine in the front ranks of the service, had a painter on
his personal staft', and used to smnmon the poor artist on deck at
' And so remained until April, 1794.
c 2
'20 CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1701^. [1718.
strango hours to record impressions of sunrise efl'ects or nocturnal
storms.
In 1718, it was, for the first time, formally oi'dered that captains
should, if duly qualified, be promoted by seniority to flag-rank, and
so onward to the rank of full admiral. But since, in those days,
the entire flag establishment consisted only of nine officers, viz., an
Admiral of the Fleet, an Admiral of the White, an Admiral of the
Blue, and Vice and Rear-Admirals of the Red, White and Blue
respectively, captains soon began to grow very old ere, in con-
sequence of deaths above them, they became eligible for advance-
ment. If, also, the order had been loyally carried out — which it
was not — and had not been followed by other modifications, it
would presently have resulted in a flag-list composed exclusively
of officers too aged to go afloat. The threatened evil was fended
off by the gradual increase of the flag-list in 1743 and subsequent
years, and by the provision, in 1747, of arrangements in virtue of
which senior captains, indisposed, or too infirm, to accept active
flag-rank, might be superannuated as rear-admirals, with pay at
the rate of 17.s. Gf7. a day. The first officers to be superannuated
under this scheme were captains of 1713, or, to put it otherwise,
captains of thirty-four years' service in that rank. Some of them
were septuagenarians.
The estabhshment of a regular uniform for certain officers of the
Eoyal Navy dates from 1748. Three years earlier, some officers
appear to have petitioned the Admiralty for the boon ; and, in 1746,
sundry captains, at Anson's wish, prepared tentative coats from
which a uniform pattern might be selected. But, though a captain
may have designed the uniforms which were finally adopted. King
George II. himself decided upon the colours of them. Having
noticed the Duchess of Bedford, wife of the First Lord, riding in
the Park in a habit of blue, faced with white, his Majesty chose
blue and white for the first uniform dress of his officers. The
innovation applied only to admirals, captains, commanders, lieu-
tenants, and midshipmen, and the wearing of the new uniform was
made compulsory, as regards these ranks, by an order dated April
14th, 1748. But there were difficulties in the way of obedience.
Patterns were not sent to foreign stations, nor were the regulations
sufficiently explicit to enable officers, by their aid only, to instruct
their tailors concerning what was required. It is therefore probable
that, for several years, the order was not fully carried out.
1748.] OFFWEUh' UNIFOIiM. 21
Admiralty patterns of these uniforms were lodged at the Navy
Ofdce and the Dockyards, hut they have not hecn preserved. A few-
coats, waistcoats, breeches and hats, for captains and lieutenants,
were, however, found at Plymouth, in 1S4(), and are now in the
Eoyal United Service Institution.
" The hats are three-cornered in shape ; one is trimmed with silver or tarnished gold
lace ; and both bear the silk cockade instituted by George I. Lace and frills being
then worn, there are no collars to the coats. They are made of thick blue cloth ; the
lappels, which button back, are blue ; but the cuffs of the captain's coats are white,
and the sleeves of all are purposely made short to allow the laced sleeves of the white
kerseymere waistcoats to show beyond. There are two kinds of buttons, one flat,
bearing a rose ; the other round and plain. Although we have not the patterns,
pictures of the dress of the admirals and midshipmen have come down to us, the
embroidery and lace on those of the flag officers being most elaborate." '
Some written advice, given by Edward Thompson,- in 1756, to a
relative who was about to enter the Navy, throws light upon the
condition of young gentlemen in the men-of-war of the time.
" Here," he says, " are no back doors through which you can make your escape,
nor any humane bosoms to alleviate your feelings ; at once you resign a good table for
no table, and a good bed for your length and breadth ; nay, it will be thought an
indulgence, too, to let you sleep where day ne'er enters, and where fresh air only comes
when forced." ..." Your light for day and night is a small candle, which is often
stuck at the side of yoiu- platter at meals, for want of a better convenience ; your
victuals are salt, and often bad ; and, if you vary the mode of dressing them, you must
cook yourself. I would recommend you always to have tea and sugar ; the rest you
must trust to, for you'll scarce find room for any more than your chest and hannuock,
and the latter at times you must carry upon deck to defend you from small shot,
unless you keep one of the sailors in fee with a little brandy (which is a good friend
at sea, but always drink it mixed with water.") . . . "Low company is the bane of
all young men ; but in a man-of-war you have the collected filths of jails. Con-
demned criminals have the alternative of hanging, or entering on board. There's not
a vice committed on shore but is practised here. The scenes of horror and infamy on
board of a man-of-war are so many and so great that I think they must rather disgust
a mind than allure it. I do not mean, by this advice, to have you appear a dull
inactive being, that shudders amidst these horrors. No ; I would wish you to see them
in their own proper shapes, for, to be hated, they need to be seen." ..." You will
find some little outward appearance of religion — and Sunday prayers I — but the con-
gregation is generally drove together by the boatswain (like sheep by the shepherd),
who neither spares oaths nor blows." "
' ' The British Fleet,' 500. The first Admiral's uniform is well shown in the
portrait of Lord Anson, forming the title-page to this volume. This was painted
between 1748 and 1761.
- Died Commodore on the West Coast of Africa, January 17th, 1786. He edited
some old writers ; wrote plays, stories, and songs ; and was a friend, and also
probably a benefactor, of Dr. Samuel Johnson.
^ ' Seaman's Letters,' i. 147.
22 CIVIL HISTORY, 171 1-1762. [1756.
Concerning subordinate officers, and the abuse of power by
superiors, Thompson wrote : —
" The disagreeable circumstances and situations attending a subaltern officer in the
Navy are ho many, and so hard, that, had not the first men in the service passed the
dirty road to preferment to encourage the rest, they would renounce it to a man. It is
a most mistaken notion that a youtli will not be a good officer unless he stoops to the
most menial offices ; to be bedded worse than hogs, and eat less delicacies. In short,
from having experienced such scenes of filth and infamy, such fatigues and hardships,
they are sufficient to disgust the stoutest and the bravest, for, alas! there is only a little
hope of promotion sprinkled in the cup to make a man swallow more than he digests
the rest of his life. The state of inferior officers in his Majesty's service is a state of
vassalage, and a lieutenant's preferment the greatest in it ; the change is at once from
a filtliy maggot to a shining butterfly. Many methods might be introduced to make
the lower officers of more consequence on their duty, and their lives more agreeable to
themselves ; for that power of reducing them to sweep the decks, being lodged in the
breast of a captain, is often abused through passion or caprice ; besides, it is too
desjiotic an authority to exercise on a man who has the feelings of an Englisliman.
" We are likewise to recollect that all commanders of men-of-war are not gentle-
men, nor men of education. I know a great jjart are brave men, but a much greater,
seamen. I allow the maxim of learning to obey, before we command ourselves ; but
still there is no reason to be vulgar, for we are to consider these young people are the
active machines of duty, the wheels which give motion to the main body ; and it is
absolutely necessary to give them authority in their office to carry on the duties of the
ship : but rendering them low in the eyes of the jieople creates a contempt for
midshipmen in general, and turns that necessary respect due to them into contempt.
" I propose to warrant this body of officers, and make them answer to the Board of
Admiralty for their conduct. They should possess a third table in the ship, and have
the countenance of their superiors. This would enliven their servitude, and make
them of consequence on their duty." '
But some improvement was alread}- to be noticed, for Thompson
continues : —
" The last war, a chaw of tobacco, a rattan, and a rope of oaths were sufficient
qualifications to constitute a lieutenant ; but now, education and good manners are
the study of all ; and so far from efl'eminacy, that I am of opinion the present race
of officers will as much eclipse the veterans of 1692 as the polite the vulgar." ^
There was, however, as yet little improvement either in the code
of morals, or in the sanitary provisions on board his Majesty's ships.
There is evidence that, towards the end of the seventeenth century,
women were systematically canied to sea in the proportion of so
many per company of Marines ; and Thompson, writing in the
middle of the eighteenth, after describing the unsavoury persons
and dwellings of the negroes of Antigua, goes on : —
" But bod smells don't hurt the sailor's appetite, each man possessing a temporary
lady, whose pride is her constancy to the man she chooses ; and in this particular they
' ' Seaman's Letters,' i. 140. ^ lb. 1-14.
1750.] SOCIAL CONDJTION O/'' 'J'JJIC NAVY. 28
are strictly su. I liavc known 350 wonion sup ami sleup ou buard ' on a Sunday
evening, and return at, daylurak tii tlieir diiTerent plantations." "
As for sanitation, suffice it to say, by way of example, in addition
to the many cases which will be cited in the two following chapters,
that, in 1756, at the time of the outbreak of war with France, when
she had been on no long cruise, and had been exposed only to the
hardships of a few months of service in the Channel, the Stirling
Castle, 64, Captain Samuel Cornish, arrived at Portsmouth with four
hundred and eighty men, of whom two hundred and twenty-five
were the pressed refuse of gaols and scum of streets. She was full
of fever and other sickness, and, when the diseased had been sent
ashore, but one hundred and sixty men remained for duty. Less
than three months later, when, having filled up her complement in
England, she had proceeded to New York, Edward Thompson
wrote from her : " We have now one hundred and fifty-nine people
ill in fluxes, scurvies, and fevers." Two months afterwards, ashore
at English Harbour, Antigua, he added —
" I have been l(jng declining with the white flux, and, for recovery, am stuffed into
a small room with twenty-six people ; but am now in better health. I officiate as
chaplain, and bury eight men in a morning. Fluxes and fevers are the reigning
distemper, and both I attribute to the water drunk by the seamen, which is taken out
of tanks or cisterns, built by Admiral Kuowles. It is all rain water, and covered
close up, which, for want of air, breeds poisonous animalcute, and becomes foul and
putrid. The melancholy effects it produces might be in a great manner prevented by
boiling the water before it is issued, or ordering the peopJe to do it. This would
destroy the vermin, and correct the putrefaction. I am convinced from long observa-
tion that most of the distempers in southern climates arise from the water drunk, as
ship sicknesses do from the bilge water ; which is evidently proved in leaky shijis
being always healthful. I therefore recommend to all officers, naval and mercantile,
to let in salt water every day, and boil their fresh, for the good of themselves and
cargoes."
' He speaks of H.M.S. Stirliny Castle, 64, carrying 480 men.
^ ' Seaman's Letters,' ii. 24.
( 24 )
CHAPTEE XXVII.
Military History of the Eoyal Navy, 1714-1 7()2.
major operations.
Accession of Greorge I. — Trouble with Sweden — Xorris to the Baltic — Co-operation
with Holland, Denmark, and Russia — A Swedish consjnracy — Byng to the Baltic
in 1717 — The Quadruple Alliance — Irritation of Spain — Byng to the Mediterranean
in 1718 — Spanish operations in Sicily— The battle off Cape Passaro — The British
and Spanish accounts — Mahan's comments — War with Spain — Projected invasion
of England — Dispersal of the Spanish fleet — The Ross-shire fiasco — Reduction of
Sicily — Peace with Spain — Norris in the Baltic in 1718 — Alliance with Sweden —
Norris in the Baltic in 1719, 1720, and 1721 — Peace between Russia and Sweden
— The Treaty of Vienna — The Treaty of Hannover — Jennings to the coast of
Spain — Wager to the Baltic — Hosier to the West Indies — Sickness in the fleet —
Death of Hosier, Hopsonn, and St. Loe — Wager relieves Gibraltar — Norris in the
Baltic— Death of George I. — The Treaty of Seville— Difficulties in the New
World — Xorris to Lisbon — Haddock to the Mediterranean — Spanish depredations
— Jenkins's ears — Reprisals granted — War with Spain — Anson's expedition —
Edward Vernon — Vernon to the West Indies — Capture of Puerto Bello — Enthusiasm
in England — Co-operation between France and Spain — Vernon reinforced — France
holds her hand — Vernon at Chagres — Vernon again reinforced — Death of Cath-
cart — Beauclerk and de Boisgeroidt — Unsuccessful cruises of Haddock, Balchen,
and Korris — Junction of the French and Spanish fleets in the Mediterranean —
Vernon's difficulties with Wentworth — Attack upon Cartagena — Early success
— Failure of the attempt — Attack on Santiago de Cuba — Abandonment of the
plan — Criticism of the scheme — The commanders censured — Projected exjiedition
against Panama — Collapse of the venture — Recall of Vernon and Wentworth —
Lestock joins Haddock in the Mediterranean — Lestock's character — Mathews
commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean — Friction between Mathews and Lestock
— Blockade of Toulon — Martin at Kaples — Martin to Alassio — Ogle in the West
Indies — Repulse of the attack on La Guayra — Repulse at Puerto Cabello — France
supports Spain — Norris in the Channel — Escape of de Roquefeuil — -War with
France and Spain — The Dutch join Great Britain — Disposition of the fleets —
Navarro and de Court leave Toulon — Mathews's action off Toulon — Suspension
and trial of Lestock — Trials of captains — The court-martial and the Lord Chief
Justice — Trial of Mathews — Rowley in the Mediterranean — Gabaret escapes him —
Hardy blockaded— Balchen relieves him — Loss of the Victory — Barnet in the
East Indies — Davers at Jamaica — French intrigues in North America — Annapolis
summoned in vain — Schemes of the Pretender — He lands in Scotland — -His escape
— Capture of Louisbourg — Townsend to the West Indies — Afiairs in the Mediter-
ranean— French failures in North America — Lestock on the coast of France —
Peyton and La Bourdonnais — Fall of Madras — Duplicity of Dupleix — Lisle and
de Conflans — Disgrace of Mitchell — Medley in the Mediterranean — French ex-
pedition to Cape Breton — Anson's action with de La Jonquiere — Hawke defeats
de L'Elenduere — Trial of Captain Fox — Exhaustion of France — Boscawen to the
1714.]
DIFFICULTIES IN THE NO /IT//.
25
East Indies — Failure at Pmidiclierry — Peacu of Aix-la-Cliu])(;!le — Surrender of
Madras — Knowles takes Port Louis— Attempt on Santiago de Culja— Kuowles's
victory off Havana — Trial of Knowles— Pocoek takes a French convoy — Losses
during the war — Terms of the peace — French aggressions — Kejipol to North
America— French designs on Canada — Boscawen to North America — Capture of
the Alcide and Lyi — Threatened invasion — French expedition to Minorca —
Operations against Angria — Success of Holmes — Koconnaissance of Brest — British
weakness in the Mediterranean — Byng ordered to Minorca — Byng's action with
de La Galissonniere — The dispatches — Byng superseded, tried, and executed —
Conclusions on his case — Fall of Minorca — Watson takes Calcutta — Fall of
Chandernagore — D'Ache to the East Indies — Forrest's action with de Kersaiut —
Expedition to Louisbourg — Misfortunes of the fleet — The expedition abandoned —
Escape of du Revest — Expedition against Kochefort — Pocock's action ofl" Cudda-
lore — Capitulation of Fort St. David — Pocock's action off Negapatam — With-
drawal of d'Ache — Kempenfelt relieves Madras — Siege and capture of Louisbourg
— Boscawen and du Chaffault — Marsh to West Africa — Keppel takes Goree —
Capture of the OrpUee and Fovdroyanl — Hawke at He d'Aix — Howe's expedition
to the French coast — Capture of Cherbourg — Disaster at St. Cas — Renewed Frencli
preparations — Pocoek again engages d'Aclie — The Dutch at Chinsura — Failure at
Martinique — Operations at Guadaloupe — The conquest of Canada — Saunders in
the St. Lawrence — Boscawen to the Mediterranean — Boscawen defeats de La Choe
— Rodney off Le Havre — Blockade of Brest — Hawke defeats de Conflans —
Blockade of Pondicherry — Hurricane in the East Indies — Fall of Pondicherry —
Norbury's action in the West Indies — French attempt against Quebec — Montreal
occupied — Elliot defeats Thurot — Boscawen and Hawke in Quiberon Bay —
Further operations in the East Indies — Keppel's expedition against Belleisle — The
Family Compact — War with Spain — Capture of Manila — Conquest of Martinique
— Conquest of Grenada and St.. Lucia — Pocoek reduces Havana — Misfortunes of
Pocock's fleet — De Terney at Newfoundland — Recapture of St. John's — The raid
on Buenos Ayres — Enforcement of the right of search — The Treaty of Fontaine-
bleau — Results of tlie Seven Years' War.
Althoi'gh, at
the accession
of George I.,
Great Britain
was at peace
with all the
world, the re-
lations of the
country with
certain north-
ern powers
were far from
being satisfac-
tory ; and from
the first it was foreseen that difficulties were hkely to arise, and
to call for the active employment of the Navy towards their solution.
POPUL Ati MEDAL COMMKJIOl: ATIVK OF -II.VTIIKWS S ACTION OFF TOULON
FEBRUARY IItH, 1744, AND OF THE FRUSTHATIOS OF THE
THREATENED INVASION OF ENGLAND AT ABOUT THE SAME TLME.
(From an orlfiinal kindlii lent by B.S.H. Captain I'lince Lutiis of
Baltntliny, li.A'.)
26 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 17U-1702. [1716.
Sweden had not yet allied herself with Eussia, and was, in fact,
still at war with her and with Denmark ; and Swedish privateers
had seized many British ships which were alleged to contain arms,
ammunition, and stores, destined, in contravention of treaty, for
the service of the Tsar. Remonstrances had been made by the
British minister at Stockholm, but they had produced no results.
The Dutch, who had similar causes of complaint against the
government of Charles XII., found it equally difficult to obtain
either redress or apology ; and it was therefore determined by Great
Britain and Holland to despatch a combined fleet to the Baltic in
1715 to intimidate the Swedes, and to convoy, and prevent further
undue interference with, the trade.
The British contingent, under Admiral Sir John Norris (B.) and
Eear-Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy (B.), was made up of twenty ships
of the line, besides a few small craft. It sailed from the Nore on
May 18th, and, reaching the Sound on June 10th, there joined the
Dutch contingent of twelve sail under Eear-Admiral Lucas de Veth.
The merchantmen were escorted to their ports, but nothing of
importance happened during the rest of the year. In 1716, Sir
John, unwilhng to adopt strong measures against Sweden unless
he had the gravest reasons for doing so, sent an officer to Stockholm
to inquire whether or not the practice of seizing British and Dutch
ships was to be persisted in. A vague and ambiguous reply being
returned, it was determined by the allied commanders, in pursuance
of orders from home, to make a demonstration of an exceptional
nature. A Danish squadron lay at Copenhagen. There also lay a
Eussian squadron under the Tsar Peter himself. After the necessary
negotiations had taken place, it was agreed that, while the Dutch,
then under Commodore Hendrik Grave, with five British men-of-
war, should coavoy to their destinations such merchantmen as had
followed the fleets, the British, Eussian, and Danish squadrons,
forming for the moment a single fleet, should proceed up the Baltic,
in order to let it be seen that, rather than permit any further
meddling with her trade, Great Britain w'ould take active part
against Charles XII. The Tsar Peter became, for the nonce, com-
mander-in-chief ; Norris assumed command of the van, and Count
Gyldeulove,' the Danish admiral, took the rear under his orders.
' Ulrich Christian Gyldenliive, known in England as Count Gueldenlew, was a
natural brother of King Frederick IV. of Denmark, and had commanded the Danisli
fleet at the time of Kuoke's operations against Copenhagen in 1700.
171G.] THE IIANNOVElilAN ENTANGLEMENT. 27
The confederate fieet assembled in Kjoge Bay, and thence
proceeded to Bornhohii, where, learning that the Swedes had
retired to Karlskrona, unwiUing to hazard an action, tlic Tsar gave
directions that the convoys might continue their voyages to their
various ports. He then, with his squadron, sailed to the coast of
Mecklenburg. Norris and Gyldenlove took measures for collecting
the homeward-bound trade, most of which joined them at Bornholm
on November 9th, and with them entered the roadstead of Copen-
hagen on the day following. The remaining merchantmen, chiefly
Dutch, anchored there on the 12th. Sir John Norris left behind
him in the Baltic Captain William Cleveland, with seven ships, to
act, if necessary, in concert with the Danes ; and, with the rest of the
fleet, he retunied to England. On his voyage he met with terrible
weather, and, although he succeeded in preserving his convoy, he
had the misfortune to lose the Auguste, 60, and the Garland, 'li}
The fleet arrived at the Nore on November S'.Jth, 1716.
The ostensible reasons for this Baltic expedition have been given
above. It must be borne in mind, however, that the situation, as
between Great Britain and Sweden, was exacerbated by the fact
that George I., besides being King of Great Britain, was Elector of
Hannover. In his latter quality he had purchased from Denmark
territories which had been conquered from Sweden ; and, in order to
defend these, he had declared war against Sweden, and carried on
the conflict at a time when, in his quality of King of Great Britain,
he was at peace with Charles XII. The Swedish monarch did not
scruple to charge King George with having prostituted the honour
of the British flag in order to serve the interests of Hannover ; and,
although it may be that Charles, in his natural resentment, failed to
do exact justice to his opponent, it cannot be denied that the
personal union of the crowns of Great Britain and Hannover, if not
in 1715-16, at least on many subsequent occasions, led Great Britain
into ventures which, had her own interests only been consulted, she
would never have embarked upon.
The irritation of Sweden was increased by Norris's demon stratioia
in the Baltic ; and one of the results was that, soon afterwards,
' So say all historians, but no authority can be found for one part of the statement.
The Auguste, Captain Kobert Johnson, ran ashore, it is true, on November lOtli,
her captain and most of her people being saved. The Garland, however, remained
in commission, under Captain Ellis Brand, until February 22nd, 1717 ; from which
fact it may be concluded that, if she went ashore, she did not at once become a total
loss. There seems, too, to have been no court-martial. MS. List in Author's Coll.
28
MAJUli OFEliATIOSa, 1714-17G2.
[1717.
certain Swedish diplomatists, including the minister in London,
associated themselves in plots, having for their object the further-
ance of the cause of the Pretender. The discovery of these intrigues
aroused the liveliest indignation throughout Great Britain ; and vk^hen
Parhament met in 1717, it was formally resolved by the House of
Commons to introduce a Bill to authorise the King to prohibit
commerce with Sweden "during such time as his Majesty shall
think it necessary for the safety and peace of his kingdom." On
SIR JOHN NOBHIS, KT., ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET.
(From fhc iiict(,rc hi/ Sir G. Enflhr, hii pt'riins!--i(in of H. C. Xorris, Esq.)
March '2nd, the Bill having in the meantime been jjassed, a
proclamation in accordance with its provisions was made pubUc.
To properly enforce the prohibition, it was requisite to send another
fleet to the Baltic ; and on March 30th, twenty-one ships of the line,
with frigates and fireships, sailed for Copenhagen under Admiral Sir
George Byng. A few days later, though in face of strong opposition,
the Government obtained a grant of a quarter of a million sterling to
enable the King " to concert such measures with foreign princes and
1718.] THE QUADSUI'L/i ALLIANCE. 29
states as may prevent any charge and appreliensicjn from the designs
of Sweden for the future."
Byng agreed upon a plan of united action with Denmark, and
made various dispositions to ensure the carrying out of the objects
for which he had been sent to sea ; but his proceedings were, upon
the whole, uneventful, the Swedes not venturing outside their ports.
Eeturning at the beginning of winter, he arrived in the mouth
of the Thames on November 15th. A note of such small services
as. were performed by the cruisers of the fleet will be found in the
next chapter. In the meantime, thanks largely to the good offices
of France and Eussia, the difficulties in the north were for the
moment smoothed over, although, for many years afterwards, they
remained a source of much anxiety and expense to the Com-t of
St. James's.
" But this," aays Campbell, " was not the unly affair ol' consequeuce that employed
the thoughts of the admiuistration. We were then in close confederacy with the
Emperor and France; and, in conjunction with these Powers, had undertaken to settle
tlie affairs of Europe on a better foundation than the Treaty of Utrecht left tliem.
AVith this view, the Triple Alliance was concluded on January 4th, 1717 ; and, that
not answering the end expected from it, we next entered, as will be shown, into the
famous Quadruple Alliance,' which was intended to remedy all these defects, and to
fix the general tranquillity for ever. Yet, by unforeseen accidents to which human
policy will be always liable, this alliance proved the cause of an immediate war
between us and Spain, and, in its consequences, was the source of all the troubles that
disturbed Europe from the time of its conclusion ^ to the peace of Aix-la-Chapello."
The terms of the alliance were decided upon some months before
the treaty was actually signed. It was determined that Spain
should restore Sardinia to the Emperor, and that the King of Spain
should renounce his claim to succeed to the French crown, while the
Emperor was to renounce his claim to what had been guaranteed to
Philip V. under the Treaty of Utrecht, and Philijj was to surrender
his claim to the Netherlands and to the Italian possessions of the
Emperor. In return for Sicily, the Emperor was to hand over
Sardinia to the King of Sicily, and was to recognise the right of
the House of Savoy to succeed to the crown of Spain in the event
of the failure of the heirs of Philip V. France and Great Britain
undertook to assist the Emperor to acquire Sicily ; and France and
the Empire undertook to maintain the Protestant succession in
Great Britain.^
' Of Great Britain, France, Holland, and the Empire.
2 August, 1718.
' Koch & SchoU, ' Hist, des Traites de Paix.'
30 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1702. [1718.
The arrangement was excessively displeasing to Bpain ; and no
sooner had the House of Savoy transferred Sicily to the Emperor
than Spain, whose policy was then controlled by Cardinal Alberoni,
made preparations for attacking that island. Great Britain made
corresponding preparations for enforcing the provisions of the
still unsigned treaty, and, early in 1718, commissioned a large
number of ships. The Spanish minister in London remonstrated.
George I. rather bluntly replied that it was not his intention to
conceal the object of his armaments, and that he purposed to send
Sir George Byng to the Mediterranean with a powerful force " to
maintain the neutrahty of Italy against those who should seek to
disturb it."
In March, 1718, Byng was accordingly appointed Commander-in-
Chief in the Mediterranean ; and on May 24th he received his written
instructions. They were not as explicit as might have been wished ;
but they appear to have been explained and supplemented in the
course of an interview which the Admiral, ere he left London, had
with Lords Sunderland and Stanhope, and Mr. Secretary Craggs.^
He was, upon his arrival upon his station, to inform the King of
Spain, the Viceroy of Naples, and the Governor of Milan, that he had
been sent to sea to promote all measures that might best contribute
to the arrangement of such differences as had arisen between the
two crowns, and to the prevention of any further violation of the
neutrality of Italy, which he was to see preserved. He was also
to enjoin both parties to abstain from acts of hostility, so that
negotiations for peace might be begun and concluded. But, should
the Spaniards persist, after all, in attacking the Emperor's territory
in Italy; or should they land in any part of Italy for that pm-pose; or
should they endeavour to make themselves masters of Italy (which
would be a step towards the invasion of the kingdom of Naples),
Byng was, to the best of his power, to hinder and obstruct them. If,
however, they were already landed, he was to try by amicable means
to induce them to abandon their project, and was to offer to help
them to withdraw their troops ; and, should all his friendly offices
prove ineffectual, he was to defend the territories attacked, by
keeping company with, or intercepting, Spanish ships and convoys,
and, if necessary, by openly opposing them.
Sir George Byng sailed from Spithead on June 15th, 1718, with
twenty ships of the line, two fireships, two bomb vessels, a store-
' iSee a letter from Craggs in Campbell, iv. 3-18.
1718] BYNG TO TIIK MEDITERRANEAN. 31
ship, a hospital-ship, and two tenders, and, passing Lisbon, sent the
Rupert in thither for intelHgence. Being off Cadiz on June 30th, he
despatched the Sivperbe with a letter to the British minister at
Madrid, desiring him to inform the King of Spain of the presence
of the British fleet, and of the instructions under which it was to
act. The Spanish reply, returned after some delay, was curtly to
the effect that Byng might execute his sovereign's orders. The
GEORGE BYNG, VISCOUNT TOIIKINGTON, ADMIK.\L OF THE FLEET.
[From T. llunhnikni^ fugyiivinij iiftcr tht portrait tni Sir G. Ki/ctlrr.i
minister. Colonel Stanhope, continued, almost up to the very
outbreak of hostilities, to endeavour to induce Spain to give way ;
and in the meantime, foreseeing the probable futility of his efforts,
he did his best to warn British merchants in the Spanish ports to
take such measures as would protect their property against the
results of any sudden rupture.
Sir George, who had to contend with unfavourable winds, did
32 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1702. [1718.
not make Cape Spartel until July 8th. He was there rejoined by
the Rupert and the Superhe, and learnt that Spain had been making
great preparations for war, and that a considerable Spanish fleet had
quitted Barcelona on June 18th for the eastward. Off Gibraltar,
the Admiral was joined by a small division of ships under Vice-
Admiral Charles Cornwall. The fleet subsequently watered at
Malaga, and thence proceeded to Port Mahon, where it landed
troops and took off the soldiers who had been in garrison there.
It sailed again on July 25th, upon receipt of news that the Spanish
fleet had been sighted on June 30th near Naples ; and on August 1st
it anchored in the Bay of Naples. Sir George had previously taken
care to apprise the imperial Viceroy, and the governor of Milan, of
his arrival in the Mediterranean.
The Spaniards had not been idle. They had landed the Marques
de Lede in Sicily ; and, except the citadel of Messina, the whole
island bad quickly fallen to him with little or no resistance. The
citadel was held by Savoyards; and as Savoy, under the terms of the
understanding, was presently to surrender Sicily to the Emperor, it
could scarcely be expected that the fortress would hold out for long.
In these circumstances, the imperial Viceroy of Naples hurriedly
embarked two thousand German troops ' on board the British ships,
and requested Sir George Byng to endeavour to throw them into
Messina citadel, and the neighbouring Fort Salvatore. The fleet
quitted Naples on August 6th, and on August 9th arrived off the
Faro of Messina.
The Spaniards were besieging the place which Byng desired to
relieve ; but Sir George does not seem to have known how near their
fleet was to him. Indeed, he had some reason to suppose that it
was endeavouring to avoid him. Instead, therefore, of moving
onwards to Messina and striking at once, he sent ashore the Captain
of the Fleet, George Saunders, with a letter to the Marques de Lede,
proposing a cessation for two months of the operations on shore, and
adding that, unless a truce were agreed to, he would use aU his force
" to prevent further attempts to disturb" the dominions w^hich his
master stood engaged to defend. De Lede replied that he had no
powers to treat, and that he intended to carry out his orders. Upon
receiving this answer. Sir George weighed, with a view to place his
fleet in front of Messina and to relieve the garrison of the citadel.
' These troops, under General Wetzel, were, before the battle ofl' Cape Passaro, set
ashore at Eeggio.
ITIK.] BATTLE OF CAl'K J'A.'iSAJtO. 38
The story of what followed is given in tlie foniial relations which
will be presently printed.
"The engagement which ensued can," says Mahaii, "scarcely be called a battle
and, as is apt to happen in smli atTairs, wlien the parties are cm tlio verge of war, but
war has not actually been declared, tliere is some doubt as to liow far tlie attack was
morally justifiable on the part of the English. It seems pretty sure that Hyng was
determined beforehand to seize or destroy the Spanish fleet, and that as a military man
he was justified by his orders. The Spanish officers had not made up their minds to
any line of conduct ; they were much inferior in numbers, and, as must always be the
case, Alberoni's hastily revived navy liad not within the same period reached nearly
the efficiency of his army. The English a[>pr()ached threateTungly near : one or more
Sjianish ships opened fire: whereupon tlie Knglish, being to windward, stood down ami
made an end of them. A few only escaped. . . ."
The forces in face of one another were, aw Captain Mahan
indicates, as unequal in numbers as in discipline. Over leaf is a
comparative statement of them. Tlie ships of the British fleet are
arranged according to Sir George Byng's order of battle, in which
the Cauterhuvij was to lead with the starboard, and the Rochester
with the larboard tacks on lioard. The exact order of the Spaniards
cannot be determined.
Sir George Byng, in liis despatches,' thus describes the events of
August 10th, and the following days : —
From on' iuiaiih Tin-; Barfleur, off of Syi!Aci;sa,
Auyust 6th (O.S.).
" Early in the morning, on the thirtieth of July,- as we were standing in for
Messina, we saw two scouts of the Spanish fleet in the Faro, very near us ; and, at the
same time, a felucca, coming oft' from the Calabrian shore, assured us they saw from
tlie hills the Spanish fleet lying by. Upon which the Admiral stood through the Faro
after the scouts, judging they would lead us to their fleet; which they did; for, before
noon, we had a fair sight of all their ships as they were drawing into line-of-battle.
" On our approach, they went from us large, but in their order of battle, their fleet
consisting of sis and twenty men-of-war, great and small, two fii'eships, four bomb
vessels, seven galleys, and several ships with stores and provisions.
"The Admiral ordered the Kent, Superhe, (jraftun, and Or/o rd, he'mg the best
sailers in the fleet, to make what sail they could to come up with the Spaniards ; and
that the ships which could get headmost, and nearest to them, should carry the lights
usually worn by the Admiral,' that he might not lose sight of them in the night ;
while he made what sail he could, with the rest of the fleet, to keep up with them. It
being little wind, the Spanisli galleys towed their heaviest sailers all night.
"The thirty-first,* in the morning, as soon as it was day, they finding us pretty
near up with their fleet, the galleys and smaller ships, with the fireships, bomb vessels.
' Sent home by liis son, Pattee Byng. Oazette, No. C()73.
■■' Le. August 10th, N.S.
' An Admiral commanding in chief carried three lights on the poop and one lii;lit
in the main-top.
■* I.e. August 11th, N.S.
VOL. III. D
34
MA.lOIt Ol-EIiATIONS, 1714-17G2.
[1718.
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1718.] JilWO'S DESPATCH. 35
and storeslii]is, sepanited tVum llio iiiliiiiial iiiul bii;.^er slii]is, and slnnd in I'm' llic sliiire :
after whom the Adininil sent C'aptain Walton, in tlie ('anlerlmri/, witli the Ar(/i/le and
six ships niuie. As tliose ships were conung up with them, one of the Spaniards ' fired
a broadside at the Argyle. 'J'he Admiral, seeing those ships engaged with tlie S]iaiush,
which were making towards the shore, sent orders to Captain Walton to rendezvous,
after the action, at Syracusa (where the Viceroy for the King of Sicily was, with a
garrison). The like orders he despatched to the flags, and to as many ships as were
within his reach, that place being defended against the Spaniards, and being the most
proper port on that coast for the Heet to gather togetlier again.
"We held on our chase after the Spanish admiral, witli three of his rear-admirals,
and the biggest ships, which stayed by their flags till we came near them. The
captains of the Kent, Superhe, Orafton, and Orford, having orders to make what sail
they could to place themselves by the four headmost ships, were the first that came up
with them. The Spaniards began, by firing their stern-chase[rs] at them : but they,
having orders not to fire unless the Spanish ships repeated their firing, made no return
at first. But, the Spaniards firing again, the Orford attacked the Santa Rosa, which,
some time after, she took. The St. CTi«r/es - struck next without much opposition,
and the Kent took possession of her. The Grafton attacked the Prince of Asturias,
formerly called the Cumberland,^ in which was Rear- Admiral Chacon: but, the Breda
and Captain, coming up, she left that ship for them to take, which they soon did ; and
stretched ahead after another sixty-gun ship, which was on her starboard while she
was engaging the Prince of Asturias, and ke]>t firing her stern-chase into the Grafton.
"About one o'clock, the ^e«< and iS'tt^o'te engaged the Spanish admiral,* which,
with two ships more, fired on them, and made a running fight imtil about three ; when
the Kent, bearing down upon her, and under her stern, gave her a broadside and went
away to leeward of her. Then the Supterbe put for it, and laid the Spanish Admiral on
board, falling on lier weather quarter : but the Spanish admiral shifting her helm and
avoiding her, the Swperhe ranged up under her lee quarter; on wliich she struck to her.
At the same time, the Barfteur being within shot of the said Spanish adndral astern,
inclining on her weather quarter, one of their rear-admirals,'' and another sixty-gun
ship, which were to windward of the Barfleiir, bore down and gave her their broad-
sides, and then clap'd upon a wind, standing in for the land. The Admiral, in the
Barfleiir, stood after them till it was almost night. But, it being little wind, and they
galing from her out of reach, he left pursuing them, and stood away to the fleet again ;
which he joined two hours after night. Tlie Essfx took the Jutio ; the Montarju and
Rupert took the Volante. Vice-Admiral Cornwall followed the Grafton to support
her; but, it being very little wind and the night coming on, the Spaniard galed away
from the Grafton.
" Rear- Adndral Delavall, with tlie Royal OaA-, chased two ships that went away
more leewardly than the rest, (one of them said to be Rear-Admiral Cammock'') but
we, not having seen them since, know not the success. The ship whicli suffered most,
with us, was the Grafton, the captain of which, though he had not tlie fortune to take
' The San. Isidoro, 46. '' San Carlos.
^ The Cnmherland, 80, Captain Richard Edwards (a), had been taken by the French
in 1707. See Vol. II. p. 513. In Spanish hands she carried a lighter armament than
she had been built for.
* Real San Felipe. ^ Apjiarently the San Luis.
* George Cammock had been a post-captain in the Royal Navy until 1714, and had
repeatedly distinguished himself. Owiug to his Jacobite leanings, he had been
dismissed the service, and had entered that of Spain. The Pretender afterwards
appointed him Admiral of the White. He is said to have died in banishment at
Ceuta. Chariiock, iii. 221.
D 2
36 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1718.
;iiiy particvilnr ship, yet was engaged witli several, behavc<l liiinself very iiiucli like an
ollicer and a seaman, and bid fair for stopping the way of those four ships that he
pursued; who escaped, not through his fault, but failure of wind ; and liis own sails
and rigging were much shattered."
'e-o"
"Fhom on jiOARi) TJii: IIiii-JIkut, at ska,
Amjust Ith (O.H.).
"Just now is returned one of the eight ships which the Admiral sent with Captain
Walton to pursue those of Spain that went in with the shore, with a letter ' from that
Captain, dated the fifth instant, giving an account that he, witli the said ships, had
taken one Spanisli rear-admiral of sixty guns, one man-of-war of four and fifty, one of
forty,- which gave the Argyle the first broadside, one of four and twenty, one ship
laden with arms, and one bomb-vessel ; and had liurut one man-of-w'ar ai four and
fifty guns, two of forty each, one of thirty, one fireship, one bomb-vessel, and one
settee.' At the writing of this letter. Captain Walton was making into Syracusa.
The ship which brought this letter saw Rear- Admiral Delavall last night ; who liad
taken the Isahela, a ship of sixty guns, with which he was standing in likewise for
Syracusa ; to which place we are now going ;- and hope to get in there this night.
" When the Admiral lias joined the ships absent from the fleet, and which we
judge are now in Syracusa with their prizes, he designs to send Vice-Adniiral
Cornwall, in the Argyle, with seven or eight ships more, to carrj' the ships taken to
Port Mahon, to be secured there till his Majesty's pleasure be known. He will also
put ashore, in Sicily, the Sjianish admirals and commanding officers, with as many of
the common prisoners as will not be necessary to help navigate the ships taken."
What may be regarded as an official Spanish narrative of the
battle, and of the circumstances which led up to it, was compiled by
the Marques de Beretti-Landi, and published at the Hague. It is
interesting, as well as fair, to append the following translation of
part of it : —
"On August 'Jth, in the morning, the English Meet was discovered oil" the tower of
Fai'o. Towards night it lay by, ofl' Cape della Metelle, opposite the tower in question.
The Spanish fleet was at the time in the Strait, but was without the detachment
commanded by Rear- Admiral Don B. de Guevara, and some shijjs and frigates which
had been sent to other places. As the intention of the English Admiral in thus
approaching was unknown, the Spanish Admiral determined to quit the Strait, and to
' The letter liere alluded to is the famous one which, erroneously, has so often been
cited as a model of modest brevity and sailor-like conciseness. As given by Campbell,
it runs: "Sir, we have taken and destroyed all the Sjmnish ships and vessels which
were upon the coast, the number as jjer margin. I am, etc., G. Waltok." Even
Mahan, following Campbell and Charnock, accepts this docked version of the letter as
genuine, and comments upon its shortness ; yet, as a matter of fact, the real letter is
one of some little length, and the above quotation forms only the first paragraph of it.
Walton's blunt brevity is as mytliical as certain well-known stories which are
associated with FiJiitenoy and Waterloo.
" The San Jsidoro, 46.
^ Some of the vessels here said to have been burnt by Walton were undoubtedly in
reality fired by Mari to save them from capture. It comes, however, almost to the
same thing.
1718.J THE al'ANJSH HTOUY. 37
collect his forces ott' Cape Spartivuntu, taking with him his vessels laden with stores,
his object being the better to prepare against the designs of the English, seeing that an
utTicer who had been sent by Sir George Byng to the Marques de Lede had not
returned. This officer had had orders to suggest to the Marques a suspension of
hostilities for two months; but tlie Marques had replied that he could do nothing
without directions from his Court. And although it was believed that a courier had
been despatched with the suggestion to Madrid, the Spaniards were unwilling to risk a
surprise from the English fleet, and a, resort to such tactics as might be prompted by
pertidy.
" On the morning of the 10th, the Kuglish fleet advanced furtljer into the Faro, and
was saluted by all the Spanish ships and vessels lying there. It is to be here noted
that although Admiral Byng had convoyed to Reggie some transjiorts having on board
troops ' of the Archduke, the officer who had been sent to the Marques de Lede
declared that this was not for hostile purposes, but merel}' to secure from any insults
the transports which were under his protection.
"The Spanish fleet sent out two light frigates to reconnoitre the English fleet ; and
although these perceived that the English, whose designs were not understood, made
all possible sail to close with the Spaniards, whose Admiral was ignorant whether tlie
English came as friends or as enemies, yet the Spaniards, who were two leagues from
the strangers, decided to withdraw towards Cape Passaro under easy sail, in order that
there might be no pretence that they anticipated hostilities. Soon afterwards a calm
supervened, and thus the ships of both fleets fell among one another ; whereupon the
Spanish Admiral, witnessing the danger, caused his ships of the line to be towed avN'ay
from the English with a view to collecting them in one body. Yet he did not permit
the galleys to commit any unfriendly act, such as they nught have committed with
advantage while it remained calm. When the Marques de Marl was near the land and
was separated from his consorts in the rear and from the frigates and transports of his
division, the weather changed, so that he strove in vain to regain the main body of the
Spanish fleet. But the English, with dissimulation, held on their way, trimming their
sails so as to secure the wind, and to cut ofl" the Marques de Marl's division. When
they had at length succeeded in this, they attacked him with six ships, forcing him to
separate from the rest of the fleet and to retire towards the shore. As long as it was
jiossible, the Marques defended himself against seven ships of the line, and, when he
was no longer able to resist, he saved his people by running his vessels aground.
Some of them were burnt under his own direction : others were taken by the enemy.
" The rest of the English fleet, consisting of seventeen sail of the line, fell upon the
Real San Feli^ie, Principe de Asturias, San Fernando, San, Carlos, Santa Isahehi,
and San Pedro, and the tVigates Santa Bosa, Perla, Juno, and Volante, which
continued to make for Cape Passaro; and as, owing to their inferiority of force, they
drew off in line, the English attacked their rearmost ship with four or five vessels, and
cut her off. They did the same in succession with other ships, which, in spite of the
fact that they made all the sail they could, were unable to avoid being captured-
Thus, every Spanish vessel being separately fought by five, six, or seven of the enemy,
the English finally subdued the Peal San Felipe,^ Principe de Asturias, San Carlos,
Santa hahela, Santa Rosa, Volante, and Juno, though each offered a bloody and
determined resistance.
" While the Real San Felijie was engaged with the English, Rear- Admiral Don
Balthazar de Guevara returned from Malta with two ships of the line, and, heading for
the Peal San Felipe, passed tlie English ships which were then alongside her, firing
upon each. He then attacked such of Admiral B_vng's vessels as followed the Peal
' Under General Wetzel.
'^ Admiral Castaileta subsequently died of his wounds at Port Mahon.
38 MAJOIt OI'F.HATIONS, 1714-1702. [1718.
Sun Felipe. Tliese, being very iiiiicli damaged, drew off in ilie night, and, after the
action, remained fifty leagues at sea for three or four day.s not only to repair the
Spanish shijis which they h.«l ca])tured, and which were most severely mauled, but
also to make good their own damages. Admiral Byng, therefore, eould not enter
Syracuse until August Ulth or ITth, mid then oidy with much ilifficult}'." '
After giving some account of the services of individual ships and
captains, the account continues : —
" Such is the story of the action ofl' Abola, or the Gulf of I'Ariga, in tlie Malta
Channel, between the Spanish and English fleets. The English ships, thanks to ill
faith and superior strength, were able to beat the Spanish vessels singly, one by one :
but it may be conceived, judging from the defence made by the latter, that, had they
acted in unison, the battle might have ended more advantageously for them.
" Immediately jfter the action, a captain of the English fleet, on behalf of Admiral
Byng, arrived to make a complimentary excuse to the Marques de Lede, and to assure
him that the Spaniards had been the aggressors, and that the battle ought not to be
considered to constitute a rupture, siting that the English did not take it as doing so.
But it was replied that Spain, ou the contrary, must hold it to constitute a formal
rupture ; and that the Sjianiards would do the English all possible damage and ill, by
ordering the commencement of reprisals. In pursuance of this, several Spanish
vessels, and Don Guevara's division, have already seized certain EnglLsh ships." *
" It is difficult," comments Mahan, " to understand the importance attached by some
writers to Byng's action at this time in attacking without regard to the line-of-battle.
He had before him a disorderly force, much inferior both in numbers and discipline.
His merit seems to lie rather in the readiness to assume a responsibility from which a
more scrupulous man might have shrunk ; but in this, and throughout the campaign,
he rendered good service to England, whose sea power was again strengthened by the
destruction not of an actual but a possible rival : and his services were rewarded hy a
peerage." ■'
It will be well to conclude the history of the major operations of
the Spanish War ere turning to the work done in the meantime by
British fleets in the Baltic, where a state of unrest continued for
several years.
Sir George Byng, after having taken measures to enable the
imperial troops to attack the Spaniards in Sicily, and to gradually
make themselves masters of the island, proceeded to Malta, and
brought away some Sicilian galleys, which, under the Marchese de
Kivarole, had been blockaded there by Eear-Admiral Camniock. He
returned to Naples on November ^nd. In the interval, Eear-Admiral
Guevara, as related in the narrative of the Marques de Beretti-
Landi, entered Cadiz, and seized all the English ships there, while
' Tiiere are, of course, discrepancies between the Spanish and the British accounts
as here given ; but, upon the whole, tlie two agree unusually well.
^ For the translation, I am indebted U< Dr. Henry Lopes.
' Not, however, until September Oth, 1721, when he was made Baron Byng of
Southill, and Yiscovmt Torrington.
171',).]
.SPANJSn HA ID ON SCOTLAND.
39
British merchants and their effects were laid hands upon in Malaga
and other ports of Spain. Reprisals followed immediately, yet war
was not formally declared until December 17th, 1718.
Spain, though weak, was exasperated and obdurate, and was
even more unwilling than at first to accept the terms dictated to her
by the Quadruple Alliance. She therefore collected a considerable
armament at Cadiz and Corunna, and boldly projected an invasion of
the west of England by troops to be led by James Butler, the
attainted Duke of Ormonde. A fleet, under Admiral of the Fleet
James, Earl of Berkeley,^ and Admiral Sir John Norris, was fitted
out, and cruised in the Channel in April ; and troops were con-
centrated, especially in the west country and in Ireland ; but, long
MEDAL (.UMMKJIOKATIVK OF llYXItS VICTOHY 01--K CAPE I'ASSAIIO.
[Frotil an iiriijiiml kindhi lent hij II.S.H. Captain Primr Loilh of Batteiibciy, S-^'-)
ere these preparations had been completed, the Spanish expedition
had been dispersed by a violent and long-continued storm, and the
scheme had been rendered abortive. Three frigates and five trans-
ports, however, conveying, among others, the Earls of Marischal and
Seaforth, and the Marquis of TuUibardine, persisted in their design,
and, pushing on to the coast of Ross-shire, there landed about four
hundred men. These were joined by fifteen or sixteen hundred
Jacobite Scots ; but they had no success. Their depot at Donan
Castle was taken and destroyed by the Worcester, Enterprise, and
Flaniboruitf/Ji, and they themselves were soon afterwards defeated
' So appoiuteil on Mai-fh 21st, ITIU. He was then also Vice-Adrairal of Great
Britain and First Lord of the Admiralty, and he hoisted his flag witli no fewer than
three captains under him, viz.. Vice- Admiral James Littleton (1st) ; Captain Francis
Hosier (2nd, or Captain of the Fleet) ; and the captain of tlie llag<hip.
40 MAJOR Ol'KJlATJONS, 1TH-17(;2. [171'J.
iit Gleiisliiel, wliercupoii tlu; Spanish auxiliaries surrendered at
discretion.
Sir Geoi-ge Byng sailed IVoiu Port Mahon for Naples early
in tlu! spring ol' J71'.), and, thenceforward, co-operated with the
Imperialists in the complete reduction of Sicily. In August, when
that reduction was nearly accomphshed, a dispute arose between the
Admiral and the allies as to the disposal of the Spanish ships that
still lay in the ports of the island. As a settlement of the question,
so far as it concerned the ships at Messina, Sir George proposed to
General Count de Merci, the Imperiahst commander, that a batteiy
should be erected, and that the vessels should he destroyed at their
anchors. De Merci pleaded lack of orders ; but Byng, insisting that
no commander needed specific instructions to destroy the property
of an enemy, gained his point, in spite of the opposition of the
Savoyards ; and most of the ships were duly bombarded and burnt
or sunk. The citadel of Messina, and the remaining vessels, were
handed over to the Imperialists by capitulation on October 7th, 1719.
The Spanish troops in the island were not permitted to evacuate it,
and were kept, by the fleet on the one hand, and by the Imperiahsts
on the other, in much discomfort ; and this fact, combined witli
the persuasive force of an expedition which was fitted out against
Vigo under Vice-Admiral Mighells and Viscount Cobham, and which
will be described in the next chapter, at length induced the King of
Spain to agree with the Quadruple Alliance. A cessation of arms
resulted in February, 1720 ; and, soon afterwards, both Sicily and
Sardinia were evacuated under the terms of a convention, the former
going to the Empire, and the latter to Savoy.' Thus the objects for
which Great Britain had entered into the war were attained. The
wisdom of British interference is a matter which it is unnecessary
here to discuss.
The difficulties with Sweden, suspended for the moment in 1717,
again became acute in 1718, and led to the dispatch of Admiral Sir
John Norris once more to the Baltic. He sailed from the mouth of
the Thames on April '28th, and from Solebay on May 1st, with a
squadron composed of ten sail of the line,' a bomb ketch, and a
' Authorities for tlie War of tlie Quadruiile Alliance : ' Accouut of the Esped. of
the Brit. Fleet to Sicil}' ' ; ' Annals of K. George IV.' ; ' Historical Register ' ; ' C'ori)S
Univ. Diplomatique,' viii. pt. I. ; Chandler's ' Dehates,' v. and vi. ; ' Merc. Hist, et Pol.'
xliv. and xlv. ; ' Mem. pour servir a I'Hist. de I'Espagne,' iii. ; Letters of Earl
Stanhope, Alberoni, Beretti-Landi, etc. ; London Gazette.
^ CuinherJand, 80, (flag). Captain William Faulknor; Ijurliiujham, 70, Captain
1721).] EXPEDITIONS TO THE IIALTIC. 41
fireship, with Eear-Adiiiii'al James Migliells as second iu couiuiaiul,
and with a nniuber of merchantmen in convoy. Upon his arrival off
Copenhagen, he was joined by a Danisli K(|iiadi'(iii, with whicli lie
cruised to the northward; but as the Swedes, upon his approach,
shut themselves up iu their ports, no naval action resulted. Sweden
was, however, by no lueans intimidated by the action of the Allies.
She made peace with the Tsar ; and, having thus freed herself from
anxiety in one direction, turned with renewed energy to prosecute
the land war with Denmark, whose territories she invaded with
two considerable armies. In this campaign, although it was upon
the whole successful, Sweden suffered the loss of her brave but
quixotic king. Charles XII. was killed by a cannon ball at
the siege of Frederikshald on December 11th, 1718. Sir John
Norris, with the fleet, had returned to England in the month of
October.
After the death of Charles XII. and the accession of Queen
Ulrica Eleanora '■ the policy of Sweden changed. She entered upon
very friendly relations with Great Britain, and, on the other hand,
was attacked by her late ally and Great Britain's old friend, Peter
the Great. The Russians ravaged the Swedish coasts until, a fresh
British fleet having been entrusted to the command of Sir John
Norris in June, and having joined the Swedish fleet in September,
1719, the enemy was obliged to take refuge in the harbour of Keval.
A little later, the old quarrel between Sweden and Denmark was
settled by British mediation : - but when Norris, in order to avoid
being frozen up there, left the Baltic in November, Sweden and
Russia remained unreconciled, in spite of the efforts which had been
made by Lord Carteret — afterwards Earl Granville — the British
minister at Stockholm, to pacify them.
In 17'20 Russia's attitude continued as before, and Sir John
Norris went back to the Baltic to protect Sweden during the open
weather. He sailed on April l(5th ; was joined in May by a Swedish
squadron under Admiral Baron Wachtmeister ; and, after cruising off
Tudor Trevor ; Hampton Cuurt, 70, Captain Robert Coleman ; Prince Frederick, 70,
Captain Covill Mayne; Salisbury, 50, Captain John Cockburne (1); Defiance, 60,
Captain Joseph Soanes ; Winchenter, 50, Captain James Campbell (1) ; Guernsey, 50,
Captain Charles Hardy (1) ; and Windsor, 60, Captain Francis Piercy. These were
afterwards joined by a few other vessels.
Whose fousort, Friedricli of Hessen-Cassel, was presently chosen king, to the
great annoyance of Russia.
'■^ Thougli the formal treaty of peace was not signed until tlie summer of 1720.
42 M A.I on (tPEUATIOSS, ITM-lTfJli. [1725.
lieval, returned to England in November/ In 1721, Sir Jolui was
employed in the same way, his mission being, however, not only to
protect Sweden, but also to lend moral support to the mediatory
efforts of the British minister at Stockholm. He sailed from the
Xore on April 13th with a fleet of twenty-one ships of the line, two
fireships, three bombs, and two tenders, and with Eear-Admiral
Francis Hosier (W.), and Eear-Admiral Edward Hopsonn (B.), in
command under him. His appearance in the Baltic undoubtedly
favoured the conclusion of peace between the belligerents : and on
September 10th hostilities between Sweden and Russia wei"e
formally terminated by the Treaty of Nystadt. Sir John dropped
anchor at the Nore on October 20th. During these various ex-
peditions to the north he seldom had occasion to fire a gun in anger,
and his proceedings were throughout of an uneventful and un-
exciting character ; yet, thanks to his tact, patience, and diplomatic
ability, and to the recognised strength and efficiency of the forces
under him, he was able to exercise a very weighty influence upon
the councils of the northern powers, and to peaceably biing about
results which a less capable officer might have failed to secui'e even
by fighting for them.
From 1721 onwards, for four or five years, the Xavy had no
great tasks assigned to it ; but the Treaty of Vienna, concluded on
April 20th, 1725, between Spain and Austria, introduced new
sources of trouble to Europe. By a secret article of that treat}',
marriages between the houses of Spain and Austria were arranged,
and both countries pledged themselves to assist the restoration of
the Stuarts, and to compel, if necessary by force, the retrocession of
Gibraltar and Minorca to Spain. To oppose these schemes. Great
Britain, France, and Prussia entered, on September 3rd, 1725, into
the Treaty of Hannover ; whereupon, Spain began to intrigue with
Russia ; and, as the Empress Catherine, the successor of Peter the
Great, was by no means amicably disposed towards Great Britain
and her allies, it became advisable, in 1726, not only to send a fleet
to the coast of Spain, but also to dispatch once more a strong force
to the Baltic. In addition to these fleets a squadron was got ready
for the West Indies.
The fleet destined to check the immediate designs of Spain was
entnisted to Admiral Sir John Jennings (W.), who was afterwards
' In a storm in the North Sea, the Monck, 50, Captain the Hon. George Clinton,
was driven ashore near Golston on Nov. 24th, and lost ; but all her people were saved.
1726.] WAGL'/i TO rilE JiALTIC. 43
joined by Keai--Admiiiil Edward Hopsonii (K.)- ^ir John, with
nine ships of the hne, sailed from St. Helen's on Jnly 'JOtli. T\u:
appearance of the British so nmch disquieted tlu; S2)aiiiards that, for
the moment, they abandoned their hostile projects : and in October,
Jennings was able to return to England, leaving Hopsonn, with a
reduced squadron, as commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean.
The Baltic fleet, under Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Wager (R.) and
Eear-Admiral Sir George Walton (B.), consisted of twenty ships of
the line, a twenty-gun ship, two fireships, and a hospital ship. It
quitted the Nore on April 17th, and, proceeding to Copenhagen and
Stockholm, obtiiined the co-operation of Denmark and the friendly
support of Sweden. A Danish squadron, under Kear-Admiral Bille,
joined Sir Charles in May, and, with him, proceeded to the Gulf of
Finland. The Russians had, in and about Cronstadt, a considerable
force under the General-Admiral Apraxine, Vice-Admiral Thomas
Gordon,' and a rear-admiral said to have been an Englishman : "
but, although they were much inclined to issue forth and defy the
alhes, Gordon succeeded in dissuading them from this suicidal
course ; and eventually the ships were laid up. Wager displayed
throughout great tact and diplomatic ability. In the autumn he,
like Jennings, returned to England, anchoring off the Guufleet on
November 1st.
Vice-Admiral Francis Hosier ■' (B.) was given command of the
squadron for the West Indies. He sailed from Plymouth on
April 9th with seven men-of-war, and, after a tedious passage,
arrived off the Bastimentos, near Puerto Bello, on June 6th. He
was then or thereafter joined by several vessels which were already
on the station, and by others from home. These brought u]i liis
total force to a strength of sixteen ships.''
' Tliuiiias Gordon, a captain of 1705, severed his connection with the Britisli Navy
at the death of Queen Anne, and entered that of Russia, in which he was at once given
flag-ranl<. Other Jacobite naval officers, notably the gallant Kenneth, Lord Duflus,
took the same service at aliout tlie ■••anie time.
^ Some authorities specify him as Rcar-Adnaral Saunders, an ex-Master and
Commander in the British Navy.
' Francis Hosier. Commander, 1694. Captain, IGSXi. nistinguished himself as
captain of the Salisbury, 1707-171.3. Rear-Admiral, 1720. Second in command in
the Baltic. Vice-Admiral, 1723. Died Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies,
August 23rd, 1727.
■* Fu., three third-rates, tlie Bmiii, JSerwick, and I.ema: ; eight fnurth-ratcs, the
liipov, Leopard, Sitperhe, Nottiiuiliam, Diuikirk, Dragon, Tiijcr, and Portland ; one
fifth-rate, the Diamuud ; and three sixth-rates, the Greyhouvd, Winchehea, and
/{apjiij.
44 MA.JOll OPEllATIOI^S, 17M-17G2. [iTliT.
The appearance ol' the British fleet in the West Indies gave great
uneasiness to the Spaniards ; and, as soon as it was reported, the
treasure-ships, which were then ready to make their voyage to
Europe, were unloaded, and their cargo of pieces of eight and other
valuables was placed on shore in security, part at Havana and part
elsewhere. The men-of-war which were to have convoyed the
treasure-ships were, moreover, laid up at Puerto Bello ; and it was
determined that, so long as a powerful British force remained in the
neighbourhood, no attempt should be made to dispatch the annual
flota to Spain ; although, of course, the non-arrival of the usual
supplies would inevitably put the mother country to immense
inconvenience.
The governor of Puerto Bello sent a civil message to the Vice-
Admiral desiring to know the reason for the unexpected visit. The
real reason was that the galleons might be watched : but as there
lay in Puerto Bello at the time a South Sea Company's ship, the
Royal George, and as this vessel would probably have been detained
if Hosier had at once proclaimed the nature of his mission, the reply
returned was to the effect that the fleet had come to convoy the
lioijal George. The governor thereupon took measures to faciUtate
the early departure of that ship ; and, when she had joined the fleet,
he politely requested the Vice-Admiral, seeing that the ostensible
reason for the presence of the force had ceased to exist, to withdraw
from off the port. But Hosier then answered that, pending the
receipt of further orders, he purposed to remain where he was ; and,
that his intentions might no longer be in doubt, he stationed a ship
of the line within gun-shot of the castle, and suffered no vessel to
enter or leave the port wdthout being strictly examined. He
maintained this blockade for six months, his ships in the mean-
while becoming daily more and more distressed by the ravages of
epidemic and other diseases ; and when, on December 14th, 1726, he
proceeded to Jamaica, his command was so completely enfeebled
that he had the greatest difficulty in navigating it into harbour.
The Vice-Admiral refreshed his people and, to the best of his
ability, made up his weakened complements to their full strength ;
and in February, 1727, he stood over to Cartagena, where some
galleons then lay. Until August he cruised upon his station ; but
his instructions were of a nature which prevented him from being
of much use to his country. They authorised him to make reprisals
siibject to certain restrictions, but not to make war ; and although
\12--2U.'\ MORTALITY IN THE WEtiT INDIEH. 4;')
the Spaniards, after a time, began to seize the property of British
merchants and to detain and condemn British vessels. Hosier was
obUged to content himself with demanding a restitution which the
Spaniards refused, and which he was unable to compel. During
that period disease was even more rife throughout the fleet than it
had been in the previous year ; and, after thousands of officers and
men had perished miserably, the misfortunes of the expeditimi
culminated on August 23rd, when Hosier himself died.'
His death has been attributed to anxiety and chagrin, but it
was, in fact, caused by fever. Nor is it astonishing that the fleet
was then little better than a floating charnel-house. Tlie most
elementary prescriptions of sanitary science seem to have been
neglected, and there is perhaps no better illustration of the extra-
ordinary indifl'erence to the simplest laws of health than the fact
that in that hot and pestilent climate the Vice-Admiral's body was
given a temporary burial-place in the ballast of his flagship, the
Breda, where it remained, a necessary source of danger to all on
board, until it was despatched to England, late in the year, on board
H.M. snow Happy, Commander Henry Fowkes. Hosier's death left
Captain Edward St. Loe,^ of the Siipcrbf. (iO, as senior officer on the
station.
St. Loe pursued the same policy as Hosier had followed, and pre-
vented the sailing of the galleons, until he was superseded by Vice-
Admiral Edward Hopsonn, who arrived at Jamaica on January '29th,
1728. Hopsonn died of fever on board his flagship the Leopard, 50,
on May 8th, leaving St. Loe once more senior officer. But by that
time the difficulties with Spain were in a fair way of adjustment.
It was still, however, necessary to keep a large force in the West
Indies ; and ere it was materially reduced, St. Loe also fell a
sacrifice to the climate and to the insanitary condition of the ships.
He died on April 22nd, 1729.^
It is doubtful whether any other British fleet has ever suffered
from disease so severely as that of Hosier suffered in 1726-27. Its
horrible experiences made a deep and lasting impression upon the
nation,^ and it may be hoped that they have had the effect of
^ Hosier had been promoted on August 11th to be Vice-Admiral of the White. At
tlie time of his death, a commission empowering the Governor of Jamaica to knight
him is said to have been on its way out. Charnock, iii. 139.
^ St. Loe fiew a broad pennant.
^ Having been promoted on March 4th, 17'iii, to be Rear-Admiral uf the Blue.
' See, for exanqile, Glover's popular ballad, 'Admiral Hosier's Ghost.'
46 MAJOl! OI'EIIATIONS, J 7 14-1 7(52. [1727.
iiupresHiiig upon all later British admirals the supreiue importance
of taking systematic and rif^orous measures for preserving the health
of their men. During the two years immediately following Hosier's
first arrival off the Bastimentos, the fleet, the nominal complement
of which never, roughly speaking, exceeded 4750 persons,' lost, in
addition to two flag officers and seven or eight captains, about fifty
lieutenants, and four thousand suljordinate officers and men, by
various forms of sickness.
The attitude of Great Britain 'with regard to the galleons pro-
voked Spain to make great preparations for a siege of Gibraltar ;
and as that fortress was neither thoroughly armed nor properly
held, corresponding measures had to be taken for its protection.
A squadron of six men-of-war and two sloops - was fitted out at
Portsmouth towards the end of 1726 ; seventeen companies of
troops and large quantities of provisions and ammunition were
embarked ; and on December 24th Vice-Admiral Sir Charles
Wager (E.) hoisted his flag in the Kent, 70, and took command.
He sailed on January 19th, 1727, and on February 2nd, having
picked up the Stirling Castle, 70, on his way out, arrived in
Gibraltar Bay, where he found Eear-Admiral Edward Hopsonn (E.),
who had remained upon the station during the winter.^ As the
Spaniards, fifteen thousand strong, were seen to be working hard,
troops, guns, and stores were landed ; but no actual hostilities took
place until after February 10th, when the enemy began a new
battery within half gunshot of some of the defences of the place.
Colonel Jasper Clayton, the Lieutenant-Governor, made a spirited
remonstrance ; but the Conde de las Torres, the Spanish commander-
in-chief, returned an unsatisfactory and truculent answer; where-
upon fire was opened from the Mole Head, and from Prince's
' Uiu-iug much of the time the total complement was not more than 3.300 officers
and men. If there had not heen at Jamaica ]ileniy of men whose ships happened
to he laid up there owing to the difficult)- with Spain, the deficiencies could not
have heen made good, and the fleet must literally have become an array of immobile
and impotent hulks.
'' Kent, 70, Lenox, 70, Berwick, 70, Royal Oak, 70, Portland, 50, Tiger, 50,
Hawk, 6, and Cruiser, 6. The Torhaij, 80, and Poole, fireship, 8, followed on
March Otli.
^ Hopsonn had with him the Burford, 70, York, GO, Winchester, 50, Culchester, 50,
Swallow, 60, Dursley Gallei/, 20, and Thunder, bomb, 4. A few days later the
Solfhny, bomb, 6, which had been ciuising, joiued. The Berwick and Lenox were
detached to the West Indies on February 13th, and the Portland and Tif/er on
April 21st. On the other hand, several fresh vessels arrived from England and
elsewhere at various times.
ITl'T.] iilEOK OF <lll!l!Al/rAR. 47
and Willis"« batteries; and 8ir Charles Wa<,'er, on tin; evening,' oT
the 11th, sent the Tiger, 50, Durslei/ Gallci/, 20, and So/r/xn/,
bomb, 6, to throw a flanking fire ujion llic Spanisli lines IVoni
the eastward.
From that day the Spaniards prosecuted th(! siege in earnest ;
but as they had nothing larger than boats and small settees afloat
in the Bay, they accomplished very little. Sir Charles, while
always leaving a few vessels to enfilade the Spanish attack, fre-
quently cruised in the Strait and oft' Cadiz ; and on those occasions
his vessels made prizes of several merchairtmen . On March 11th,
moreover, the lioijal Oak, 70, being detached, took the new Spanish
man-of-war, Nuestra Sefiora del Bosario, 46, which was on her way
from Santander to Cadiz ; and, in the meantime, the small craft
employed by the enemy within the Bay were from time to time
nearly all seized. So mattei^s went on, until, on June 16th, Sir
Charles Wager, having heard that the preliminaries of peace had
been agreed to, ordered a cessation of hostilities.'
"But," says Smollett, '•when the siege was on the [Kiiiit ni lieino- entirely raised,
and the preliminaries ratified in form, Spain started new difficulties and urged new
pretensions. The Spaniards insisted that a temporary suspension of arms did not
imply an actual raising of the siege of Gibraltar. . . . Upon this, hostilities began
between the ships of the two nations ; and Sir Charles Wager continued to cruise on
the coasts of Spain, after the cessaiion of arms at Gibraltar. . . . However, after many
cavils and delays, the preliminary articles were at last signed at Madrid on Febrviary
24th,- above eight months after the death of King George the First, by the ministers
of the Emperor, England, Spain, France, and the States ; which opened the way to
the Congress." ''
Sir Charles Wager, with part of his fleet, reached Spithead on
April 9th, on his return from the Mediterranean. During his
absence there, Admiral Sir John Norris (B.), Eear- Admiral Salmon
Morrice (W.), and Kear-Admiral Eobert Hughes (1) (B.), with twelve
ships of the line and several smaller ones, made another demonstra-
tion in the Baltic, in order to induce the Empress of Bussia to
refrain from attacking Sweden. The fleet reached Copenhagen
on May l'2th, 1727, and its appearance in northern waters created
so powerful an impression that Russia, in spite of the fact that
she had already threatened Sweden in definite terms, laid up her
ships and abandoned her designs. Sir John returned without having
had occasion to fire a shot.
' Sir Charles utilised the leisure which this cessation gave him by proceeding to
Tangier, and renewing the peace with MaroccO.
'' 1728. ^ Begun at Soissons on June 1st, 1728.
48 MA.IOll Ol'EHATIONfi, 17U-17C2. [1720.
The death of George I., which had occurred at Osnabriick on
June 11th, 17'27, made no difference to the foreign policy of Great
Britain. George II., in his first message to Parhament, while
expressing a hope that peace would be re-established as a result
of the deliberations then in progress, pointed out that it was still
necessary to continue the preparations for war. Eleven ships had
already been commissioned in January ; and, as the sincerity of
Spain remained in some doubt, fifteen more were commissioned in
June, 1728. When Parliament re-assembled in January, 1729, the
Congress at Soissons had failed to devise tenns of peace that were
satisfactory to all the numerous parties concerned, and the Spaniards
in the West Indies were more troublesome than ever to British
trade. But the manifest determination of the King to stand by
his allies ; his plainly-expressed intention to preserve his " undoubted
right to Gibraltar and the island of Minorca" ; ^ his assurance that
he would secure satisfaction for Spanish depredations in the West
Indies ; and his orders, issued on May 25th, for the commissioning
of twenty sail of the line and five frigates,- were not without
effect ; the result being that, by the Treaty of Seville, concluded
on November 9th, 1729, Great Britain, Spain, and France, who
wei'e subsequently joined by Holland, became defensively allied.
Gibraltar was not mentioned in the treaty ; and the fact that
it was not mentioned was regarded as a tacit renunciation of the
claim of Spain to the Kock ; but, in some other respects, the
settlement was disadvantageous to Great Britain,^ and, upon
the whole, it was beneficial rather to France than to any other
comitry.
During the peace which followed, Admiral Sir Charles Wager,''
in 1731, assisted the Marques de Mari in convoying a large body of
Spanish troops to Leghorn, in order to place Don Carlos de Bourbon
in possession of Parma and Piacenza, to which, under the terms of
the treaty, the Prince had become entitled by the death of the
Duke of Parma. Yet, notwithstanding this friendly co-operation
between Great Britain and Spain in Europe, the relations between
' Answer of the Iviiig tu the Coramuiis, March 25th, 172!J.
^ These were presently joined at Spithead by fourteen Dutch ships under Vice-
Adnural van Soramelsdijck.
^ Tt did not, fur example, secure satisfaction for the Spanish depredations in tlie
West Indies.
* He had his flag in the Naraur, 'JO. Hear- Admiral Sir John Balchen. Kt. (W.),
in the Norfulk, 80, was second in command.
1735.]
run ruGA l a tininTEi).
49
the representatives of the two countries in the New World became
ever more and more strained. And even in Eiu'ope very menacing
clouds arose when, in 17315, the death of Augustus II., Elector of
Saxony and King of Poland, brought about a hostile combination
of France, Spain, and Sardinia against tlie Empire. Great Britain,
as a necessary measure of precaution, connnissioned no fewer than
ADMIRAL XK'HOLAS HADDOCK.
(From Ffihei'^s I'lifimviinj aftir tin' jniint'niit hi/ T. (^ihsufu
rcpirm'ntiiitj Httdtlock ivhin Jlnir-Admjnrl nf !}ir Jlnl, 17ii.^.)
eighty-six^ ships of war early in 1734, recalled British sailors from
the service of foreign powers, and offered bounties to seamen.
In 1735, a dispute having broken out between Spain and Portugal,
the latter power solicited British aid against the Spaniards ; and,
in response, a large fleet, under Admiral Sir John Norris, with
Vice- Admiral Sir John Balchen (R.), and Eear-Admiral Nicholas
^ Bi'ingmg up the total miinljer iu commission to one Iniudred and twentj'.
VOL. III. E
50 MAJOJ; OPEL-ATIONS, 1714-1762. [1738.
liaddock' (W.), was dispatched to Lisbon, sailing from Spithead on
May 27th, and reaching the Tagus on June 9th. The demonstration
was made not only in the general interests of peace, but also in
the particular interests of the many British merchants whose welfare
was more or less dependent upon the safety of the then homecoming
Portuguese flota from Brazil ; and it was so efficacious that an actual
rupture between the two countries was prevented.
Yet Spain was not to be permanently intimidated. After Fi-ance,
going behind the backs of her allies, had patched up, vastly to her
own benefit, her differences with the Empire by the treaty of
December 28th, 1735, Great Britain, awaking to the fact that she
had been neglecting her own peculiar business in order to be ready
to intervene on behalf of powers that deserved no such kindness at
her hands, once more turned her attention to the outrages which
had for j'ears been committed upon her commerce by the Spaniards
in the West Indies. In 1737 she sent Kear-Admiral Nicholas
Haddock to the Mediterranean with a squadron, the appearance of
which was intended to lend weight to the demands which she then
felt it necessary to make. Spain haggled and temporised. In reply
to an address from the Commons, King George II., on March 6th,
1738, said : "I am fully sensible of the many and unwarrantable
dej)redations committed by the Spaniards,- and you may be assured
I will make use of the most proper and effectual means that are in
my power to procure justice and satisfaction to my injured subjects,
and for the future security of their trade and navigation."
Still, however, Spain temporised. A paper presented to Parlia-
ment in 1738 showed that since the Treaty of Seville the loss
caused to British merchants by the operations of the Spaniards
had been upwards of i'140,000, that fifty-two British vessels had
been taken and plundered by them, and that British seamen had
been very cruelly treated. This caused much excitement. Then
came the examination by the House of persons who had, or were
alleged to have, suffered at the hands of the Spaniards. Among
these persons was Richard Jenkins, sometime master of the Bebecca,
brig, of Glasgow. He declared that his craft had been boarded by
a guarda-costa, whose captain had wantonly cut off one of the
' Nicholas Haddock. Burn, 168G. Captain, 1707. Eear-Admiral, 173-1. Vice-
Admiral, 17-11. Admiral. 1744. Died, 1746.
^ Accounts of some of tliese, and further notes about Jenkins, -vvill be found in the
next chapter.
1739.] JENKINS'S EARS. 51,
deponent's ears, and handed it to him with the insolent remark :
" Garry this home to the King, your mastcir, whom, if he were
present, I would serve in lik(! fashion." " The truth of the story,"
says Mr. Lecky, " is extremely doubtful." It has even been said
that Jenkins lost his ear at the pillory. Yet the indignation ai-ousc;(l
by the man's deposition was general ; and popular opinion grew
uncontrollable when it became known that, upon having been
asked by a member what were his feelings at the moment of
the outrage, Jenkins had replied: "I recommended my soul to
God, and my cause to my country."
Spain at length agreed to make some reparation, and to settle
outstanding differences. The convention to this effect was sub-
mitted to Parliament in 1739, and, after a most stormy debate,
approved of ; yet, when the time came for it to be carried out,
fresh difficulties cropped up, and Spain, possibly because she had
gained by negotiation all the delay which she deemed necessary to
enable her to perfect her preparations, silently declined to play
her promised part. At about the same time, owing to the pre-
carious state of affairs, the British consuls at Malaga, Alicant,
and other Spanish ports, were compelled to advise British merchants
and vessels to depart thence with all haste.
Great Britain was to be satisfied only by the adoption of strong
measures ; and on July 10th, 1739, the King issued a proclamation
in which he set forth that the Spaniards had committed depredations,
and that they had promised and failed to make reparation ; and in
which he authorised general reprisals and letters of marque against
the ships, goods, and subjects of the King of Spain. Half-hearted
endeavours were made at the last moment to preserve peace ; but
Spain declared that she regarded the making of reprisals as a
hostile act ; France reminded the world that she was bound to
look upon the enemies of Spain as her own foes ; and Holland
averred that, if called upon to do so, she could not but observe
the spirit of her treaty of alliance with Great Britain.
The British minister presently withdrew from Madrid, and the
Spanish minister from London ; the British squadrons abroad were
reinforced ; ' numerous ships were commissioned ; stringent measures
were adopted to procure the necessary number of seamen for the
' Information as to the state of affairs was also sent to Commodore Charles Brown,
who was senior officer at Jamaica, and who at once began reprisals. For an account of
them, see next chapter.
E 2
52 MA.Iol: (irKUATlOSS, 1714-17GL'. [1739.
tieet; letters of marque were aiiiiouiiced on July 'Jist' as ready for
issue by the Admiralty ; and on October 'iSrd, 1739, war was
formally declared against Spain, which put lorwaid hvr own
declaration on November '28tli.
The power of Spain was then most vulnerable in the AVest
Indies and the Pacific. An expedition under Captain George Anson,
of whose proceedings an account will Ik; found in Chapter XXIX.,
was prepared for the Pacific, but did not sail until the autumn of
1740. Dispatched primarily for warlike purposes, and originally
intended to co-operate with another force under Captain James
Cornwall, Anson's command, owing to various adventitious circum-
stances, gained for its leader an even more brilliant reputation as
a navigator than as a fighting officer ; and the history of it falls
naturally among the chronicles of the great British voyages. But an
expedition to the West Indies, which was entrusted to Vice-Admiral
Edward Vernon (1), (B.),' was, from beginning to end, entirely a
fighting venture ; and as it was not without effect upon the issue
of the war, it may fitly be described here, although it led up to no
fleet action, and although it did not, to any appreciable extent,
directly strengthen the maritime position of Great Bi-itain.
Edward Vernon was a blunt, well-intentioned, honest, and very
popular officer, whose chief service faults were that he could not
always control either his tongue or his pen, and that he was too
fond of vulgar applause. He had served in the West Indies for
several years after his first appointment as a post-captain, and
was generally believed to have an intimate acquaintance with the
whole of that station and with the weak points of the Spanish
position there. He had also been for a long time member of
Parliament for Ipswich and for Penryn ; and, in the course of one
of the debates upon the depredations of the Spaniards, he had taken
upon himself to declare in strong terms that the Spanish possessions
in the West Indies might be reduced -with great ease, and that
Puerto Bello,' in particular, might be taken by a force of six
^ Edward Vernon was born in 1G8-1, and became a Post-Captain in 1706, and a
Vice-Admiral, witliout liaving ever been a Rear-Admiral, on .July 9th, 1739. Having
captured Puerto Bello, etc., in that and the next year, he led an attack upon Cartagena
in 1741. In 1745 he attained the rank of Admiral, but, in the following year, owing,
among other things, to his fondness for pamphleteering, he was struck off the list of
flag-oflScers. See note on p. Ill, i»/ra. He died iu 1757.
^ Puerto Bello stands on the north side of the Isthmus of Darien, and is abou
seventy miles from Panama. It has a considerable bay and good anchorage.
173'J.]
VERNON 10 THE WEST INDIES.
53
ships of the hue. He said, moreover, that he would gladly venture
liis life and reputation upon the success of such an enterprise, if
only he were permitted to attempt it. Vernon was popular in the
country, and troublesome to the ministry ; and the Government,
anxious to be temporarily rid of him, and perhaps equally ready
to take credit for his triumph or to rejoice over his disgrace,
promoted him, and gave him exactly the mission and force which
he had demanded.
AimiKAI, EDWAUD VERNON.
iFroin McAnkll's I'/tijntri/hj tttlir the portrait bij T. (liiiiixhorunaU, li.A.')
Vernon sailed from Portsmouth on July 24th, 1739,^ with four
ships of seventy guns, three of sixty, one of fifty, and one of fort)*.
Of these, he presently detached three of the seventies, viz., the
Lenox, Captain Covill Mayne, Elizabeth, Captain Edward Falking-
ham (1), and Kent, Captain Thomas Durell (1), to cruise for a month
off Cape Ortegal, and to look out for some treasure-ships which were
daily expected in Spain. The vessels were to return afterwards to
' Hu ilid uot, liowever, leave Plymouth until August .'inl.
54 MAJOR OrEItATlONti, 1714-1762. [1739.
England. He also detached the Pearl, 50, Captain the Hon.
Edward Legge, to cruise for three months between Lisbon and
Oporto. With the rest of his force he crossed the Atlantic, reaching
Jamaica on October 23rd.' There he was joined by the senior
officer already on the station. Commodore Charles Brown, whose
broad pennant was in the Hampton Court, 70.
On the voyage out Vernon took every opportunity of disciplining
his men, and of exercising them both at the heavy guns and at small
arms ; and there is little doubt that, under his direction, his small
squadron rapidly became, for its size, the most efficient that Great
Britain had sent to sea for many years.
The intelligence received by the Vice-Admiral was to the effect
that the Spanish galleons were about to make rendezvous at
Cartagena, and to proceed thence to Puerto Bello, where they would
exchange their European goods for the gold and silver which had
been sent for the purpose from Panama. The news that the bullion
was already at Puerto Bello determined A'ernon to lose no time in
attacking that place. He obtained pilots, embarked two hundred
soldiers under Captain Newton, and, on November 5th, 1739, sailed
from Port Eoyal." On the following day he issued the following
instructions to his captains : —
" Ujiou making the land at Puerto Bello, and having a fair wind to favour them,
and daylight for the attempt, to have their ships clear in all respects for imm'ediate
service ; and, on the proper signal, to form themselves into a line of battle, as directed ;
and, being formed, to follow in the same order of battle to the attack, in the manner
hereafter directed. And as the north shore of the harbour of Puerto Bello is
represented to the Admiral to be a bold steep shore, on which, at the first entrance,
stands the Castillo de Ferro, or Iron Castle, Commodore Brown, and the ships that
follow him, are directed to pass the said fort, within less than a cable's length distant,
giving the enemy as they pass as warm a fire as possible, both from great guns and
musketry. Then Commodore Brown is to steer away for the Gloria Castle, and anchor
as near as he ]iossibly can to the eastermost part of it, for battering down all the
(lefences of it, but so as to leave room for Captain Maj'ne, in the Worcesttr, to anchor
astern of him against the westermost bastion, and to do the same there ; and to follow
such orders as the Commodore may think i)roper to give him for attacking the said
castle. Captain Herbert, in the Sonmch, after giving his fire at the Iron Castle, is to
push on for the castle of San Jeronimo, lying to the eastward of the town, and to
anchor as near it as he possibly can, and batter it down ; and Captain Trevor, in the
Strafford, following the Admiral, to come to an anchor abreast of the eastermost
part of the Iron Castle, so as to leave room for Captain Waterhouse, in the Princess
Louisa, to anchor astern of him, for battering the westermost part of the (/astle; and
' Having called in the meantime at Antigua and St. Kitt's.
- With the ships mentioned in the table infra, and the Sheerness, 20, Captain Miles
Stapleton. This vessel was preseutlj" detacheil to reconnoitre Cartagena.
1739.]
VERNON AT PUKItTd BKLJA).
coiitinuu there till the service is euuipleloil, aiul make lliemselves masters of it: tlie
youngest officers to follow the further orders of the elder in the further prosecution of
the attack : and, if the weather be favourable for it on their going in, each ship,
besides having her long-boat towing astern, to have her barge alongside to tow the
long-boats away with such jiart of the soldiers as can conveidently go in them, and to
come under the Admiral's stern, for his directing a descent with them, where he shall
find it most proper to order it. From the men's inexperience in service, it will be
necessary to be as cautious as possible to prevent Imi'i-y and confusion, and a fruitless
waste of powder and shot. The captains are to give the strictest orders to their
respective otlicers to take the greatest care that no gun is fired but what they, or those
they particularly appoint, first see levelled, and direct the firing of; and tliat they shall
strictly prohibit all their men from hallooing and ntaking irregular noise that will only
serve to throw them into confusion, till such time as the service is performed and when
thej' have nothing to do but glory in the victory. Such of the ships as have mortars
and cohorns on board are ordered to use them in the nttacU."
Link oi^ Batti.k at the AxrACK ox Pitekto I'.ki.i.d, Xllv^:^^'.l■:l^ I'lsr, ITMii.
Ships.
'timmaiiders.
Hampton Court,
Norwich
Worcester .
Burford
Strafford
J^riucess Loiiitui^
Commodore (!haiies Brown,
.'aptain Digby Dent, (ii ).
„ Richard Herbert.
„ Perry Mayne.
Yice-Adiiiiral Edward Vernon, (B.).
C'a]itain Thomas Watson (1).
„ 'Phomas Trevor.
,, Thomas Waterhouse.
The squadron sighted Puerto JJello in the night of November ^Oth,
and chased into harbour some small vessels, which apprised the
enemy of Vernon's presence on the coast. That he might not be
driven to leeward, the Vice-Admiral anchored about six leagues from
the shore. Early on the '21st he weighed, and, the wind being
easterly,^ he plied to windward in line of battle ahead. At about
2 P.M., the Hampton Court, being close to the Iron Castle, began the
attack, and was well seconded by the Noncivh and Worcester. The
fire of the enemy, vigorous at first, gradually lessened. Seeing this,
Vernon, who was rapidly approaching, signalled for the manned
boats to go under his stern, and then ordered them to land beneath
the walls of the castle. In the meantime, the Burford, which had
come abreast of the castle, had received and returned a very heavy
fire. The men in her tops forced the enemy to abandon his lower
battery, whereupon the landing-party made an assault, and, by
climbing into the embrasures upon one another's shoulders, the men
entered, and quickly carried the work, most of the defenders of
' This prevented tlie attack from being carried out in tlie jiresci'lbed manner.
56
MJJdj; (tl'KHJ'nONS, I7M-1702.
[1739.
wliicli fled to the town, tliout^h ;i few Kbut tliuinselves ux) in the
keep, whence they presently shouted appeals for quarter.
By that time night had come on. Owing to the wind, Commo-
dore Brown and his division had been unable to get up the bay and
attack the castles of Gloria and San Jeronimo, and his ships, having
fallen to leeward, were obliged to anchor, ready to proceed at
daybreak should the wind permit. The lUirford and Htrafford,
Attack on Pcekto Bei.lo, Xovember 21st., 1739.
{Fj'om a plan hij Com. Jamt'n Bt'ntonc kindly lent by Lord Vernon.)
C. Warcester.
D. Noririeh.
E. Biirfurd.
F. Hnoipton Court.
G. Strafford.
H. Princess Louisa.
1. Two tenders,
-fir. Two Spanish giiarda-eostas.
21. Three trading sloops.
0. Boats on their wav to land soldiers.
which were just within reach of the heaviest guns in Gloria, were
fired at all night, but received little damage beyond the wounding of
the former's fore topmast. The fire was returned wdth effect from
the lower deck of the Burford. Early in the morning of the 2'2nd,
the Vice-Admiral went on board the Hampton Court, and, after he
had consulted with his ofiicers, directed steps to be taken for warping
his ships up the harbour during the night, in order to be able to
17.51I.] VEItNUN ON TIIK SPANISH MA FN. 57
attack Gloria and San Jeronimo on tiio I'oUovving day. But these
measures proved to be unnecessary. The Spanish governor, Don
Francisco Martinez de lletez, hoisted a white flag, and sent out a
boat with a flag of truce to convey to Vernon the terms on wliicli
the place would be surrendered. These terms were deemed in-
admissible by the Vice-Admiral, who drew up others which he was
prepared to grant. He allowed the governor only a few hours in
which to make up his mind; yet, well within the specified time, the
terms were accepted. Captain Newton, with two hundred soldiers,
was sent to take possession of the town and castles ; and detachments
of seamen boarded the vessels in port. The crews of these had, it
appeared, landed during the previous night, and committed various
outrages. The garrison was allowed to march out with the honours
of war, and to carry off two cannon with ten charges of powder for
each. The inhabitants were permitted either to remove or to remain,
and were promised security for their goods and efl'ects. The ships '
were surrendered absolutely, though their crews were permitted to
retire with their personal effects. And, contingent upon the due
performance of all the stipulations, the town, the clergy and the
churches were guaranteed protection and immunity in their privi-
leges and properties."
Public money to the amount of ten thousand dollars was found
in the place, aird at once distributed by Vernon among his men.
There were also taken forty pieces of brass cannon, ten brass fleld-
pieces, four brass mortars, and eigliteen brass patereroes, besides
iron guns, which were destroyed, but not carried oft". The fortiflca-
tions were then demolished — a work which needed the expenditure
of one hundred and twenty-two barrels of captured Spanish powder,
and which occiipied three weeks. ^
On November '27th, the Diamond, 40, Captain Charles Knowles,
and on November 29th, the Wiitchur, (50, Captain George Berkeley,
and the Anglesey, 40, Captain Henry Keddish, joined the flag from
the Leeward Islands ; and on December 6th, the Sheerness, '20,
1 One of them, a snow, was commissioned as tlie Triumph, sloop, by Commandei-
James Eentone, wlio was sent home with Vernon's dispatches. Another prize was
renamed the Astriea, 12.
2 The loss on the British side during tlie attack was almost incredibly small, the
liurfurd and Worcester having each three killed and five wounded, and the Hampton
Court having one man mortally wounded.
= In the service Captain the Hon. Edward Boscawen assisted as a volunteer. His
shiji, the S/wi-fham, 20, was at the time unfit for sea.
58 MAJOR OPJ^nATIONS, 1714-1702. [1739.
Captain Miles Staplc^ton, wliicli liad been detaclied to reconnoitre
Cartagena, returned. While the Vice-Admiral still lay at Puerto
Bello, be sent to Panama a demand for the release of certain servants
of the South Sea Company, who were confined in that city ; and,
although Vernon, being on the wrong side of the isthmus, was
scarcely in a position to have hacked up his demand by force, the
governor, who seems to have been greatly impressed by the easy
captuie of Puerto Bello, saw fit to comply. The Vice-Admiral
sailed on December 18th for Jamaica.
The news of the success was hailed with great joy in England,
and Vernon was voted the thanks of both Houses, and the freedom
of the City of London in a gold box. Commander James Eentone,
the bearer of the intelligence, was presented with two hundred
guineas, and made a post-captain. The Ministry realised that it
could do nothing more popular than follow up the blow already
struck, and it at once arranged to send to Jamaica, if possible in the
early autumn, a strong military force composed of two regiments of
infantry, and six newly-raised regiments of Marines — the whole
under Major-General Lord Catbcart — to be employed by Vice-
Admiral Vernon in the prosecution of further designs against the
Spaniards in the AVest Indies and Central America. It was also
decided to endeavour to recruit in the North American Colonies a
corps of three thousand men, to be commanded by Colonel Spottis-
wood,' and to be sent to Jamaica to strengthen the hands of Lord
Catbcart upon his arrival.
In the interval, the Spaniards, thoroughly alanned for the
security of their empire in the New World, sent to the West Indies
a strong squadron,- with troops and stores, under Admiral Don
liodrigo de Torres. They also jsrevailed upon France to proclaim
not only that she was in strict alliance with Spain, but also that she
could not suffer Great Britain to make new settlements or conquests
in the West Indies ; and this proclamation was succeeded by the
dispatch across the Atlantic of three French squadrons. One, of
four ships of the line, under the Chevalier de Nesmond, left Brest on
July '28th. A second, of eighteen sail, under the Marquis d'Antin,
quitted the same port towards the end of August, and, soon after its
departure, suffered so severely in a storm, that two or three of its
' This officei' unfortunately died in A'irginia ere the troo]is which lie had ccjllected
couUl be embarked.
- This sailed from Spain on .Jidy lOtli, 17+0.
17J0.] VEBNON AT CARTAGENA. 59
best vessels bad to return. The tliird, of fifteen sail, under tbe
Marquis de La Roche-AUard, weij^died from Toulon on August 25tb.
Wben be bad passed tbe Strait of Gibraltar, tlu; Marquis opened
bis orders, and, in pursuance of them, sent back to port four
of bis largest sbips. Proceeding with tbe rest, he made a junc-
tion with tbe other squadrons at Martinique in September and
October.
But tbe force there assembled was formidable chiefly on paper.
The vessels were not in good condition, and they were both ill-
manned and ill-found. Many of them bad been much damaged by
bad weather ere they arrived ; and when they essayed to move in
company from Martinique to Hispaniola, they fell in with another
storm which caused serious losses, and reduced them to a condition
of impotence.
That they had been sent out to co-operate with Spain is
certain. But before they bad an opportunity of co-operating,
reinforcements had reached Vernon : and tbe situation in Europe
had been changed by tbe death of tbe Emperor Charles VI., on
October '20th, and by the accession of tbe Elector of Bavaria as
Charles VII. France then decided to hold her band, to recall her
squadrons,' and to postpone her definite rupture with Great Britain.
It is not necessary, therefore, to further follow tbe movements of tbe
French. As for tbe Spanish squadron under Don Rodrigo de
Torres, it reached San Juan de Puerto Rico in a sorely-damaged
condition in September, and there slowly refitted. In course of time
it went on to Cartagena, threw additional troops into the town, and,
leaving a detachment under Don Bias de Leso in the roadstead,
proceeded to Havana.
Vernon's squadron, on its voyage from Puerto Bello to Jamaica,
was dispersed and shattered by a storm. All the vessels, neverthe-
less, reached Port Royal by February 6th, 1740, except the Triumph,
sloop, which had foundered off Sambala Keys, bi;t tbe officers and
men of which had been saved. Tbe Greenwich, 50, Captain Charles
Wyndbam, with four bombs, some firesbips, and several other
craft, was found in harbour. The Vice-Admiral did all that lay in
his power to speedily refit his command, but, finding that tbe
Burford would take some time to prepare for sea, be transferred his
flag from her to the Strafford, 60, and sailed on February 25th with
tbe greater part of his force, leaving tbe rest of it, under Commodore
' Except a few sliips left .'it Hisiiaiiinhi uiuler tlie Conitc de liuquefeuil.
(iO
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-17G2.
[1740.
Charles Erowii, lor the protection of Jamaica. His deteriuination
was to bombard Cartagena.
On March 1st, the Vice-Admiral sighted the land near Santa
Martha, and, having detached the GrecnwicJi, ^jO, to ply to windward
of that place, to intercept any vessel that might be bomid thither, he
bore away ; and, on the evening of the 3rd,' anchored in nine fathoms
off Playa Grande, in the open bay before Cartagena. On the 4th
vice-.\dmii:al sir charlks knowles.
iFrom Fabci's mczzutiiit after thf pnrtraif bij T, Hudson.)
and 5th he reconnoitred the place, and made his dispositions ; and on
the 6th he ordered in the bombs Alderney, 8, Commander James
Scott, Terrible, 8, Commander Edward Allen, and Cumberland, 8,
Commander Thomas Brodrick,- with the tenders Pompey and
Goodly, and other craft to assist them, to bombard the town. This
' On which day be had been joined by the Fnhnoutli, 50, Captain William
Douglas.
^ This officer, who died a Vice-Admiral in 1769, in later life spelt his name
Broderick ; but it was, properly, Brodrick.
iTlO.] VEBNON AT CIIA(1RE8. 61
they did until \) a.m. on the 7th, receiving no dainii^^e whatsoever,
and probably doing little, although they terril)ly frightened the
inhabitants. It is difficult to understand why Vernon made this
demonstration, for he knew well that the force which he had with
him was insufficient to take the city. It has been suggested that
his action was intended as a reply to an insulting letter which he
had received from Don Bias de Leso, and this is certainly a plausible
explanation, for the quick-tempered Vice-Admiral was ever fully
as eager to resent a slight offered to himself as he was to resent
one offered to his country. It does not, however, appear that the
bombardment of Cartagena assisted, in the slightest degree, the
general policy which Vernon had been sent westward to carry out.
From Cartagena he coasted along the Gulf of Darien, exchanging
shots with Bocca Chica as lie passed, and making observations
concerning the defences of the various towns. He detached the
Windsor, 60, Captain George Berkeley, and the GreenicicJi, 50,
Captain Charles Wyndham, to cruise off' Cartagena with the object
of looking out for the galleons and of intercepting three Spanish
ships of war which, he had heard, were about to attempt to join
Don Bias de Leso there. Vernon then proceeded to Puerto Bello
to refit and water his squadron. He was rejoined on March 13th
by the Diamond, 40, Captain Charles Knowles,^ an officer in whom
he appears to have reposed exceptional confidence. Knowles was
ordered to go on board the Success, fireship, 10, Commander Daniel
Hore," and, accompanied by one of the tenders, to move round to
the mouth of the River Chagres, there to reconnoitre and to make
soundings with a view to reporting on the manner in which the
fort of San Lorenzo and the town of Chagres might best be
attacked. Measures were also taken to blockade the estuary. The
Vice-Admiral obtained much information and assistance from an
English pirate or buccaneer named Lowther, who, in consequence,
received the King's pardon and permission to return home.
On March 2'2nd the Strafford,^ the NonvicJi, the three bomb
ketches, and the small craft, put to sea from Puerto Bello, instruc-
tions being left for the other vessels to follow as soon as possible.
' Charles KnowleB. Born, 1702. Captain, IToT. Eear-Ailrairal, 1747. Coiii-
niander-in-Chief at Jamaica, 1748. Captured Port Louis, Hlspaniola. Defeated
Eeggio off Havana, October 1st, 1748. A'ice- Admiral, 1755. Admiral, 1758. Baronet,
17G5, and Rear-Admiral of Great Britain. Served lUissia, 1770-1774. Died, 1777.
■•^ Or Hoare.
' In wliich tlie Yice-Adnjiral still Hew liis flair.
G2 MAJOR OI'EltATIONS, 1714- 17G2. [1740.
The Strafford met witli a slight uccident on the passage, and was
detained i'or a few licnirs, hut the Norwich, by order, proceeded with
the remaining craft, and by 3 p.m. Captain liichard Herbert, with
the assistance of Captain Knowles, had not only placed his bombs
in position, but had begun to bombard Fort San Lorenzo. The
Diamond also opened fire in the evening; and, during the night, the
Strafford, Princess Louisa, and Falmouth, arrived and took up their
stations.' The ships maintained a leisurely fire from their heavier
guns until March '24th, when the governor of the place, Don Juan
Cailos GutieiTez de Zavallos, surrendered. Captain Knowles took
possession in the course of the afternoon.
A large amount of booty, including cocoa, Jesuit's bark, and
wool, valued at ±70,000, besides plate, etc., was captured. Two
guarda-costas, found in the river, were destroyed ; all the brass
guns and patereroes - in the defences were embarked in the
squadron ; and, after the works had been demolished, Vernon
quitted the river on March 30th. He was rejoined on the 31st
by the Windsor and Greenwich from before Cartagena, and on
April 2nd by his old flagship, the Burford, from Jamaica. After
making dispositions, which proved to be vain, for intercepting the
new Spanish viceroy of Santa Fe, who was on his way out from
Ferrol, the Vice-Admiral returned to Jamaica, sending Captain
Knowles home with dispatches.
A little later, Vernon, advised from Lisbon of the Spanish
preparations for sending out the squadron under Don Rodrigo
de Torres, and of the actual departure from Cadiz of a squadron,
the supposed destination of which was the West Indies, put to sea
again, hoping to fall in with the enemy ; but, having encountered
bad weather, and having failed to get any news of his foe, he
returned to Port Eoyal on June '21st. During the summer his
cruisers were active, but he was himself detained in port by lack
of supplies. On September 5th, however, a number of store-ships,
convoyed by the Defiance, 60, Captain John Trevor, and the Tilhwry,
60, reached him, and on October 3rd he was able to put to sea once
more. On the 19th he fell in with eight transports, convoyed by the
' The ships engaged in the attack on Chagres were the Strafford, 60, Princess
Lottisa, 60, Falmouth, 50, Noru-ich, 50, Diamond, 40, Aldrrney, Terrible, and
Cumbe.rhuid, hombs, and Pomjiey and Goodly, tenders. The commanders of all these
have already been named. In addition, there were the fireships, Success, 10, Com-
mander Daniel Hore, and Eleanor, 10, Commander Sir Robert Henley, Bart.
^ There were eleven brass guns and as nianv iiatereroes.
ITIO.] OCILE JOINS VERNON. (J3
Wolf, sloop, lU, Coiuuiandcr W illiam Daiidridgc, and ladcju willi
troops from North America.' These he escorted to Jamaica. Soon
afterwards he heard of the arrival at Cartagena of Don Kodrigo de
Torres, and at Martini(]ue of the Manpiis d'Antin ; and not having
force sufficient to justify him in risking an encounter at sea with his
known enemies, even if they were not assisted by his suspected ones,
he remained at Port Royal, anxiously awaiting news of the jjroniised
reinforcements from England.
These reinforcements, which included the transports carrying
Lord Cathcart's army, were to have been under the orders of
Vice- Admiral Sir John Balchen. But Balchen's division of men-
of-war consisted only of one 3rd-rate, five 4th-rates, and one
Gtli-rate ; and when, after the armament had actually put to sea
and had been driven back to port by contrary weather in August,
tlie Ministry learnt wliat powerful squadrons Spain and France had
dispatclied across the Atlantic, it was decided to make new arrange-
ments. Balchen's orders were cancelled, and a very much larger
and entirely different squadron, under Sir Chaloner Ogle (1), was
appointed to escort the troops. The change of plan necessarily
involved much delay, and it was not until October '2Gth that the
fleet at length sailed.
It cleared the Channel ; but on October 31st, when it was about
seventy leagues to the westward of the Start,- it met witli a heavy
gale, in which the Buckiughani, 70, Captain Cornelius Mitchell,
Prince of Orange, 70, Captain Henry Osborn, and Stq)crhe. 60,
Captain the Hon. William Hervey, were so badly damaged that the
first had to be sent back to Spithead, and the others had to proceed to
Lisbon under convoy of the Cumberland, 80, Captain James Stewart.
In spite of these deductions the fleet still consisted of upwards of
twenty 3rd and 4th-rates, besides several frigates, fire-ships, bombs,
etc., under fiear-Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle (1), Kt. (B.), and
Commodore Richard Lestock (2), together with transports carrying
about 9000 troops, ^ under Major-General Lord Cathcart, and
Brigadier-Generals Thomas Wentworth, John Guise, and William
Blakeney. It anchored on December 19th, 1740, in Prince Rupert's
' These troopis had taken part iu the fruitless attack on St. Augustine, Florida, some
account of which will be found in the next chapter.
2 In lat. 17° 54' W.
^ I.e. the 1.5tli and 2-lth regiments of foot, six regiments of Marines under Colonels
Fleming, Robinson, Lowther, Wynyard, Douglas and Moreton, and some artillery and
miscellaneous detacliments.
(11 MAJOR OPEHATIONS, 17U-17G2. [1740.
liay, Dominica ; and, on tlic loUowing day it had to lament the
loss, by dysentery, of the mihtary commander-in-chief.^
Sir Chaloner weighed again for St. Kitt's, his general rendez-
vous, on December 27th, and thence steered for Jamaica. On the
passage thither, being ofi' the western end of Hispaniola, he sighted
liiur large vessels, and signalled to the Prince Frederick, 70, Captain
Lord Aubrey Beauclerk, Orford, 70, Captain Lord Augustus Fitzroy,
TAon, ()0, Captain Charles Cotterell, Weymouth, 60, Captain Charles
Knowles, and two more ships of the line, to proceed in chase. At
4 P.M. the strangers - hoisted French colours ; but as they did not
shorten sail, it was 10 r.M. ere the headmost British ship, the Prince
Frederick, got up with them. She hailed them, first in Enghsh and
then in French, and then, having failed to get an answer, fired into
one of the ships, which promptly returned a broadside. The Orford
next got into action ; and she and the Prince Frederick engaged the
chase for about an hour and a half before the remaining ships could
approach within gunshot. The Weijmoidh was the third to overhaul
the strangers ; and, upon her arrival on the scene. Captain Knowles
boarded the Prince Frederick, and expressed his conviction that the
enemy was French. Lord Aubrey Beauclerk thereupon made the
signal to desist ; yet, as the enemy continued firing, the engagement
was renewed for about half an hour. At daybreak Lord Aubrey sent
an officer on board the senior ship of the chase, and at length it was
satisfactorily established that the strangers were indeed French, and
not, as Lord Aubrey had at first believed, Spaniards sailing under
French colours. The Prince Frederick lost four killed and nine
wounded ; the Orford, seven killed and fourteen wounded ; and the
Wei/moiitJi, two killed; and all three vessels were much damaged
aloft.
The French, who bitterly complained of the manner in which
they had been treated, suffered much more severely. They declared
that, upon being hailed, they had at once replied ; and modern
French writers seriously contend that the true cause of the action
was the refusal of their senior officer to send a boat to Lord
Aubrey, when he called for one. It is possible, seeing how un-
favourable to Great Britain was the attitude of France at the time,
' Lord Cathcart was succeeded in the command by General AVentwortb, a far less
experienced and competent officer.
'■' Ardent, di, CuTptam d'Ei>ma\ ie Boisgeroult: J/ercucp, 54-, Captain des Herbiers
de I'Etenduere ; Diamant, 50, Captain de Poisins ; and Parfaite, 46, Captain
d'Estonrnel. Gueriu, iv. 242. These vessels formed part of d'Antin's sqiia'lron.
1710.] BALCHEN'S CHUJSK. ()5
that neither Ogle nor Lord Aubrey was prepared to exercise much
forbearance with the French, and that the action was the result of
provocation and irritation on lioth sides. The squadrons, however,
parted with mutual apologies ; and Lord Aubrey proceeded to rejoin
Sir Chaloner Ogle, who arrived at Jamaica on January 9th, 1741,
and there placed himself under the orders of Vice- Admiral Vernon.
It is necessary to return for a time from the West Indies, and to
look at the course of events elsewhere.
The outbreak of war had found Eear-Admiral Nicholas Haddock
(R.) commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. Under him was
Eear-Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle (1) (B.). At first. Haddock blockaded
the Spaniards in Cadiz, but he was soon drawn off by the foulness
of his ships and by the requirements of Minorca, which, it was
supposed, might be attacked from other Spanish ports ; and while
he and Ogle were at Port Mahou, such Spanish ships ^ as had been
lying at Cadiz slipped out, under Don Roderigo de Torres, and sailed
to Ferrol. Not long afterwards, when it appeared that Minorca was
in no danger, and that the Spaniards in the Mediterranean were
weaker than had at first been believed, Ogle, with a strong division,
was sent home by Haddock. He arrived in England on July 7th,
1740, and, as had been shown, went out later in the year - to
reinforce Vice-Admiral Vernon. No event of importance occurred
in the Mediterranean during the rest of 1740.
Nearer home, much was designed but little was effected. On
April 9th, Vice-Admiral John Balchen (R.) was dispatched from
Plymouth to intercept a Spanish treasure fleet which, escorted by
a squadron under Admiral Pizarro, was on its way home from
America. Balchen cruised in the very track which Pizarro had
intended to take ; but the Spaniards, learning of the British
Admiral's station and design, sent out a fast dispatch vessel which,
warning Pizarro, caused him to make for Santander by way of the
Lizard and Ushant, instead of for Cadiz by way of Madeira, as he
had originally purposed. He consequently took his convoy safely
into port. To defeat Balchen, Spain in the meantime fitted out and
sent to sea a superior force under Admiral Pintado, who, however,
failed to find his enemy, and, upon his return, was disgraced.
Balchen, against whose conduct no objections were ever alleged,
' 'I'heso were they whicli subsequently proceeded to the West Indies, as lias lieen
already related.
- He first, h<i\vever, cruised for a short time under Sir John Xorris. .SVe infra.
VOL. III. F
<>0 MAJOR OPKliATlONS, 1714 17HL'. [1741.
went back to port, having done little but capture the Princeaa, 70.'
Later in the year he commanded a squadron in the Channel.
The large concentration of Spanish force at Ferrol, and the
knowledge that Spain cherished plans for aiding the Pretender in
a descent upon (^-reat Bi'itain or Ireland, led to the assemblage of a
large fleet- at Spithead. It was entrusted to Admiral-of-the-Fleet
Sir John Norris, and, undo- liini, to Admiral Philip Cavendish (B.),
and Kear-Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle (1) (B.). Sir John, who hoisted
his flag first in the Victori/, 100, and afterwards — the Victory having
been disabled by collision with the Lion,^ 60 — in the Boyne, 80, had
secret instructions ; but what they were is, even now, not certainly
known. It is supposed by some that he had orders to attack Fen-ol,
but this is upon the whole unlikely. It is more probable that his
force was designed merely to convoy outward-bound merchantmen
until clear of the Channel, and to be ready for any special service
that might appear desirable. The Admiral of the Fleet took to
sea with him as a volunteer Prince William Augustus, Duke of
Cumberland,^ second son of George II. The fleet sailed from
St. Helen's on July 10th, but was three times driven back into port
by contrary weather : and on Aiigust '28th, Sir John, being then in
Torbay, hauled down his flag and departed for London with the
young Duke.
In 1741 the proceedings of the fleets in home waters were equally
luiinteresting. In July, and again in October, the Admiral of the
Fleet and Admiral Philip Cavendish put to sea with a considerable
force and cruised off the north coast of Spain ; but, beyond picking
up a few small prizes, the command did nothing. It returned to
Spithead on November 0th.
In the Mediterranean, Vice-Admiral Haddock, who was from
time to time reinforced from England, endeavoured to prevent the
junction of a Spanish squadron which lay in Cadiz with the French
fleet which la}- in Toulon, and to intercept the transport of Spanish
trooiDS from Barcelona to Italy. But he failed in both objects.
While Haddock was refitting at Gibraltar, the Tordon fleet, under
' For au account of her capture, .s«- uext chapter.
- Made up of one ship of 100 guns, eight ships of SO, five of 70, seven of 60, and
one of 50, besides smaller craft.
' The Vidori/ carried away her head and bowsprit : tlie Lion lost Iter foremast,
and twenty-eight men who were tln'own overboard by the shock.
* Tlie victor of Culloden, then in his twentieth year. This short cruise seems to
have decided him to adopt a mihtary instead of a naval career.
1741.] IIADDUCK MISSES NAVAUllO. 07
M. La Bruyere de Court, weiglied and steered towards tlie Strait ;
and Don Jose Navarro, from Cadiz, issued forth to meet and join
hands with it. Haddock suffered Navarro to pass by him,' and only
went in cliase when it was too lii.l(; to ]>r('vciit tlie accomplishment
of the junction. His advanced frigates sighted the allies off Cape
de Gata on December 7th, 1741, and the British and Spanish fleets
were distantly visible one from the other on the following morning ;
but at that time the junction was actually being effected. The
Vice-Admiral called a council of war which, in view of the fact that
French neutrality could not be depended upon,- judged it inadvisable
to continue the pursuit. Soon afterwards the French and Spanish
fleets proceeded to Barcelona and eml)arked 1.5, 00() men, who were
thence transported to Orljetello, in Tuscany, there to act against the
allies of Great Britain. The ill-success both of Norris and of
Haddock was doubtless due rather to the nature of the instnictions
given to these officers by the Ministry than to any fault on the
part of either. Popular indignation rose high, especially when it
became known that the passage of Spanish reinforcements to Italy
had not been prevented : and the general discontent on this subject
contributed much to the fall of Sir Robert Walpole's administration.
In the West Indies, as has been said. Sir Chaloner Ogle joined
Vice-Admiral Vernon at Jamaica on January 9th, 1741. A fleet
such as had never before been assembled in the waters of the
New World was now at the disposal of the British commander,
who, unlike his fellow-admirals in Europe, had very full powers to
act as he might deem best for the advantage of the service.
" Bfetter," says Beatson, "had it been for Great Britain if his
powers had been more limited ; for, had he been directed to proceed
immediately against the Havana, there can be no . doubt but he
would have succeeded in reducing that place before the hurricane
months set in. His instructions pointed strongly at this as the
most proper place to commence his operations : and letters from the
most able and well informed of his friends^ in England strongly
enforced this idea."
' Hadtkick, wliii had Itt't cruisers to watch Cadiz, seem.s ti) liave been very ill-serveil
by Ids scouts.
^ ,The Frauco-Siiainsli tieet outnumbered tlie British by nearly two to one.
^ " 'Take and hold,' is tlie cry. Tliis points plainly to Cuba, and if the people of
Faigland wei-e to give you instructions, I may venture to say, ninety-nine in a hundred
would be for attacking that island." Pulteney to Vernon, August 17, 1740, in ' Letters
to an Honest Sailor.'
F 2
68 MAJOR OI'EIIATIOAS, 1714-17C2. [1711.
It would seem that, up to the day of Ogle's arrival, Vemon had
formed no distinct plans for the future. He had been looking
forward to talking over everything with Lord Cathcart, in whom
he had reason for placing the highest confidence. But Cathcart
died, and Wentworth, who took his place, was an officer of veiy
inferior ability, for whom Vernon, from the first, entertained dislike
and distrust. Wentworth, it is fair to add, did not deserve this.
He appears to have been sensible, if not very able ; and he was
certainly anxious to do for liis country the best that lay in liis
power.
As the result of a council of war held on January 10th,' it was
determined to proceed with the whole force to windward to observe
the motions of the French at Port Louis in Hispaniola. Vernon
formed his large fleet into three divisions, one under himself, one
under Ogle, and one under Commodore Bichard Lestock. Part of
the force got out of harbour on January '22nd, but the whole did not
make an offing until January 29th. On February 8th it was off
Cape Tiburon, the western point of Hispaniola. There the Vice-
Admiral was rejoined by the Wolf, 10, Commander William
Dandridge. She had been sent ahead to gain intelligence, and
she reported that there were in Port Louis nineteen large ships, one
of which had a flag at the main, and another a broad pennant flying ;
but, when the fleet arrived off the place on the 12th, it was found
that Dandridge had been mistaken," and that there were in port only
some unrigged merchantmen and a large frigate. Three days later
Vernon obtained permission from the governor of Port Louis to
wood and water the fleet, and learnt that the Marquis d'Antin
had returned to Europe. At another council of war it was
decided, mainly in deference to Vernon's representations, to attack
Cartagena. The fleet, therefore, weighed on January 25th, the
WcijDioiifh, GO, Captain Charles Knowles, Experiment, 20, Captain
James Eentone, and a sloop, being sent ahead to sound the coast
and to find a safe anchorage for the huge flotilla, which consisted,
with the transports, of a hundred and twenty-four sail.
Vernon dropped anchor in the Bay of Playa Grande ^ on
March 4th, and at once made such a disposition of his small craft
' There were present, in addition to Vernon and Ogle, Oovernur Trelawney of
Jamaica, and Generals Wentworth and Guise.
" He was misled by a haze which prevailed when he made his reconnaissance.
^ It is to the windward df Cartagena, between it and Point Canoa.
ITU.] CARTAGENA. <i!>
as to suggest that he intended them to cover a diseniharkali(jn ol
the army. This had the desired effect. It drew a large part of the
enemy's troops down to the shore in that neighliourliood, and
induced them to hegin throwing up intrenchments there.
But no actual attack was made until March 9th, and in tiie
meantime the Spanish garrison of four thousand men, besides
negroes and Indians, and the naval force under Don Bias de Ijeso,
perfected its preparations for defence.
The following description of Cartagena, as it then was, is mainly
from Beatson : — ^
'I'lie city is in a great measure siirroumled by water. It is divided iiitu two
unequal parts, the city of Cartagena, and its suburb, called Xiniani. The walls of the
former are washed by the waves of the Bay of Mexico ; but, on account of some rocks,
and perpetual surf, there is no approaching it on that side. The water on tlie outside
of the harbour is seldom smooth, so that landing is at most times difficult. The only
entrance to the harbour is upwards of two leagues to the westward of the city, between
two narrow peninsulas, the one called Tieriva Bomba, the other called the Baradera.
This entry is called Boca Chica, or the Little Mouth, and is so narrow that only one
ship can enter at a time. It was defended, on the Tierra Bomba side, by a fort called
San Luis, a regular square, with four bastions, mounted with eighty-two pieces of
cannon and three mortars; but the counterscarp and glaces were not completed. To
this were added Fort San Felipe, mounted with seven guns, and Fort Santiago, of
fifteen guns, and a small fort of four guns, called Battery de Chamba. These served as
outworks to Fort San Luis. On the other side of the harbour's mouth lies a fascine
battery,^ called the Baradera ; and, in a small bay at the back of that, another battery
of four guns. And, facing the entrance of the harbour, on a small, flat island, stood
Fort San Jose, of twenty-one guns. From this fort to Fort San Luis, a strong boom,
made of logs and cables, was laid across, fastened with three large anchors at each end;
and just behind the boom were moored four ships of the line. Beyond this passage lies
the gi'eat lake or outer harbour of Cai-tagena, several leagues in circumference, and
land-locked on all sides. About mid-way to the town, it grows narrower ; and, within
less than a league of it, two points project into the lake from the inner harbour. ( >n
the northmost of these was a strong fort called Castillo Grande, being a regular square
with four bastions, defended to the land by a wet ditch and glacis proper. The face of
the curtain, towards the sea, was covered by a raveliu, and a double line of heavy
cannon. The number of guns in this fort was fifty-nine, though there were embrasures
for sixty-one. On the opposite point was a horseshoe battery of twelve guns, called
Fort Mancinilla. In the middle, between these two forts, is a large shoal with otdy a
lew feet of water on it. On each side of this were sunk large ships. At the end of the
inner harbour stands the city of Cartagena, on two flat sandy keys or islands, well
fortified to the land, and with lakes and morasses running round it. On the fortifica-
tion of the city are mounted one hundred and sixty guns, and on those of the suburbs,
one hundred and forty. South of the city, about a quarter of a mile from the Ximani
gate, stands Foi-t San Lazar, on an eminence about fifty or sixty feet high. It is
composed of a square of fifty feet, having three demi-bastions, and two guns in each
' ' Nav. and Mil. Mems.' iii. 24.
'^ It was for fifteen 2-1-pounders ; Imt these seem not to have been mounted until
after operations had been begun.
70 MAJOJt OPEIiATlONS, 1714-1702. [1741.
face, oue iu eacli llaiik, ami three in each curtain. It completely commands the town ;
but there is a hill about t'nur liuiulrcd yards IVoni it whicii overlooks and commands it
entirely.
Early in the iiioriiiug o! March 'Jth, Sir Chaloner Ogle, who hail
shifted his flag from the Bussell, 80, to the Jersey, (50, Captain I'citer
Lawrence, and who had General Wentworth with him, moved with
his division,^ towards the mouth of the harhour. He was presently
followed by Vice-Admiral Vernon and his division,- convoying the
transports full of troops. The third division,^ under Commodore
Lestock, was left at anchor, so as to distract the attention of the
enemy.
The Princess Amelia, 80, was specially told off to attack Battery
de Chamba, and the Norfolk, 80, Ihissell, 80, and Shrewsburij, 80,
were similarly told off to batter forts Santiago and San Fehpe. As
the division of Ogle approached, Chamba opened fire, but was soon
silenced by the Princess Amelia, Captain John Hemmiugton. At
about noon the Norfolk, Captain Thomas Graves (1), Russell, Captain
Hany Norris, and the Slireivsbury, Captain Isaac Townsend,
anchored in their assigned positions and fired so vigorously that
both the forts opposed to them were rendered untenable within an
hour. They were then taken possession of by landing parties.
Generals Wentworth and Guise, and Colonel Wolfe also landed soon
afterwards, and on that day and the 10th, most of the troops were
put ashore. These initial successes were gained at little cost. Only
six men were killed on board the Norfolk and Bussell, and although
the Shrewsbury had her cable shot away and fell into a position
where she lay for seven hours under a most infernal fire from two or
three hundred guns she had but twenty killed and forty wounded.
She received, however, two hundred and forty shot in her hull, and
of these sixteen were between wind and water.
The following days were employed in landing guns and stores ; in
forming a camp in a somewhat ill-chosen position, before Fort San
' Princesft Amelia, 80, Windsor, 60, I'ui/i-, (JO, Norfolk, 80, Russell, 80, Shrews-
bury, 80, Ripon, 60, Lichfield, 50, Jersey, 60, Tilbury, 60, Experiment, 20, Sheer-
ness, 20, Vesuvius, fireship, IWrible, bomb. Phaeton, fireship, and Goodly, tender.
- Orford, 70, Princess Louisa, 60, Worcester, GO, Chichester, 80, Princess Caroline
(flag), 80, Tnrhay, 80, Strafford, 60, Weymouth, 60, Deptford, 60, Burford, 70,
Squirrel, 20, Shoreham, 20, Eleanor, 10, Seahorse, 20, tlie fireships Stromholu, Success,
Vulcan and Cumherland, the tender Pomjipy, and a brig.
' Defiance, 60, Dunkirk, 60, Lion, 60, Prince Frederick, 70, Boyne, 80, Hiinipton
Court, 70, Falmouth, 50, Montagu, 60, Suffolk, 70, ^4s^-oeo, 12, Wolf, 10, the fireships
j£tna and Firebrand, and the Virgin Queen, tender.
ITil.] ATTACK ON CARTAGENA. 71
Liuis ; and in (]uaii'el8 between Wcntworlli and Vernon, wlio was
dissatisfied with the manner in whieh tlii^ engineers ihd their work,
and who used unbecoming language to tlie military commander-in-
chief. As the camp was exposed to the fire of the Spanish fasciae
battery on the Baradera side, an attack upon this was made on the
night of March li)th, when tlie hoats of the fleet, under Cai)tain
Thomas Watson (1), of the Princess Caroliite, Captain Harry Norris,
of the Russell, and Captain Charles Colby, of the Boijne, landed a
party of five hundred seamen and soldiers commanded by Captains
the Hon. Edward Boscawen, of the Hhurrham, William Laws, and
Thomas Cotes,' E.N. The party was put ashore about a mile to
leeward of the Baradera Battery, under the very muzzles of a
masked battery of five guns that had been thrown up on the beach ;
but, although a little confused at first by the hot fire which was
opened from this, the men promptly rushed it, and then, pushing on,
carried the Baradera Battery itself, and, suffering very little loss,
spiked the guns, and set the carriages, fascines, platforms, magazines
and guard-houses, on fire.
This well-managed exploit relieved the army before San Luis ;
but there was much sickness in the camp, the works did not progress
with the expected rapidity, and Vice-Admiral Vernon grew daily
more impatient and irritable. To add to his annoyance, the
Spaniards partially refitted the abandoned Baradera Battery, and
again began to fire upon the camp from it. They were driven out
by the Ripun, 60, Captain Thomas Jolly, which later prevented any
further attempts from being made to mount guns there. The main
British battery opened against Fort San Luis on the morning of the
21st ; and on that and the next day a furious fire was maintained on
both sides.
On the morning of March '23rd, a general attack upon all the
forts and batteries was begun. Commodore Lestock, with the
Bo//ne, 8U, Captain Charles Colby, Princess Amelia, 80, Captain
John Hemmington, Prince Frederick, 70, Captain Lord Aubrey
Beauclerk, Hampton Court, 70, Captain Digby Dent (2), Suffolk,
70, Captain Thomas Davers, and Tilbury, 60, Captain Robert Long,
engaged the Spanish forts, batteries and ships,- there not being room
to bring more vessels to bear upon the enemy's defences. The
' 'I'lie military ofticers were Captains .James Murray and \\'ashingtoii.
- (jidicia, 70, flag of Don Bias de Leso ; Sun Carlos, 66, Africa, 60, ami
San FcUpr, (iO.
72 MAJOll OPEHATJONH, 1714-1702. [1741.
Boijue suffered so severely that she had to be called off at night ; the
Fri)ice Frederick, which lost her captain/ and the Hampton Court,
very much shattered, had to be recalled on the following morning.
The other ships did excellent service, and were less injured ; yet it
was found expedient to withdraw even these on the 24th. During
this attack, the chief engineer was mortally wounded : on the other
hand, Fort San Luis was breached, and General Wentworth, who
went in person to view the effect of the bombardment, determined to
assault the place on the night of March 25th.
Vernon undertook to make a diversion on the Baradera side,
and, in the afternoon of the 25th, landed Captain Charles Knowles
and some seamen near the I'emains of the fascine batterj'. The
assault was then made with complete success, and with the loss of
but a single man. Owing to the fall of Fort San Luis, the Spaniards
had to scuttle or burn the Africa, San Carlos, and San Felipe, and
they were thrown into so much confusion that Captain Knowles,
taking advantage of it, apparently upon his own authority, pulled
across to Fort San Jose, on the island, and stormed it without the
slightest difficulty. Still unwilling to let shp what seemed to be so
splendid an opportunity for dealing serious blows, he, w'ith Captain
Thomas Watson, forced a way within the boom, and boarded and
took the Galicia, TO.'* They also destroyed the boom, so that on the
morning of the 26th part of the British fleet entered the lake. A
few days later, it passed up to the narrow entrance leading to the
harbour proper,^ and, upon its approach, the enemy abandoned
Castillo Grande, sank two line-of-battleships* which had been moored
in the channel, and blew up Fort Mancinilla. Such was the general
situation on March 31st. ^
All would, doubtless, have continued to go well, but for the
unhappy dissensions between the Yice-Admiral and the General. The
siege had caused much disease, especially among the troops, which,
on March 25th, had lost about five hundred men, and had about one
thousand five hundred more sick on board the hospital-ships Princess
Boijal and Scarboroiu/li. The fleet w'as considerably less unhealthy ;
yet, while the fleet had plenty of water, and, very often, fresh meat
' Whose place was taken by Captain the Hon. Edwaril B(jscawen.
^ She was towed out.
* Called the Surgidero, or Anchorage.
* C'ojiijuistador, 66, and Dragon, 60.
'■ On April 1st Vernon sent home a sanguine dispatch which leached the Duke of
Xewcastle on May 17th, and caused general exultation.
1741.] attach: on UAllTAOKNA. 73
and turtle, the army sometimes suffered from absolute want.
Vernon seems to have forgotten that troops and seamen alike served
a common sovereign and a common cause. He took no measures
for supplying water to the army ; he refused Wentworth's reasonable
request that two or three small craft should be told off to catch
turtle for the use of the sick ; and, speaking generally, his relations
with his military colleague were unaccommodating; boisterous, and
overbearing. Wentworth, in consequence, became disgusted, and,
rather than seek the co-operation of so bearish and dictatorial a man
as Vernon, he sometimes stood sullenly aloof, regardless of the
magnitude of the public interests involved.
On April 1st the Vice-Admiral moved his bomb-ketches, covered
MK1J.\L COMMEMOIiATIVE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF SOME OF THE DEFENCES OF
CARTAGENA BY VICE-ADMIHAL EDWARD VERNON, MARCH, 1741.
(Fniin an ori'jinal ki/idlif lent bij H.S.H. Ca/jtairr Fhnri' Lnr/i.^ uf Btttfintuni, li.X. )
by the Experiment, '20, Captain James Kentone, and the Shoreham.
20, Captain Thomas Brodrick,^ into the Surgidero ; and Commodore
Lestock, who had re-embarked the troops from Tierra Bomba, joined
Vernon off Castillo Grande. On the 2nd, three lireships took up
their station within the Surgidero in order to protect a projected
landing of troops at a place called La Quinta. On the 3rd, the
Weymouth, 60, Captain Charles Knowles, also passed the narrows ;
and, early on the morning of the 5th, General Blakeney, with about
one thousand five hundred men, was set ashore, and presently
pushed forward towards Fort San Lazar, the only remaining
outwork of Cartagena. Some resistance was encountered, but the
enemy eventually retired. On the 6th, more of the army dis-
' Who had succeeded Captaiu the Hon. E. Boscaweu.
74 MA.IUl! DPKItATlOSS, 1714-17(i2. [l"!l.
cuibailcud, and, liaviiig joined Blakeney's brigade, encamped with it
on a plain about a mile from San Lazai-.
On the 7th, a niilitarv council of war came to the conclusion that
Fort San Lazar ought not to be attempted until a battery should be
raised against it, and that the reduction of the w-ork would be greatly
facilitated by the co-operation of the bomb-ketches and a ship of the
line with the arm)'. Vernon, on being informed of this, testily
leplied that he strongly disapproved of waiting for the erection of a
battery, and that, if a battery should be erected against so paltry a
fort, he felt sure that the enemy would not wait for it to be made
ready for action ; but, in his answer, he paid no attention to the
council's suggestion as to the co-operation of the ships ; nor could
Wentworth induce the Vice-Admir'al to order his vessels to cover a
detachment of troops which had been posted with a view to cutting
oft' communication between Cartagena and the country at its back.
In short, it appears that Vernon believed that the army could do,
and ought to do, all that remained to be done, and that Wentworth,
with wiser intuition, knew that only by co-operation could the
desired results be attained. But sickness increased ashore, water
grew daily scarcer, and the Spanish defences became hourly more
formidable ; and, in an evil moment, at the pressing instance of
Vernon, and against the better judgment of some of the land officers,
the storming of San Lazar was ordered, and was attempted before
daybreak on April 9th. Things were mismanaged ; officers were
confused by lack of detailed instructions, and the assault was repulsed
with heavy loss.'
Operations were continued for two daj's longer ; but on the 11th
a council of land officers decided that, " without a considerable
reinforcement from the fleet, it would not be possible to go on with
the enterprise." Vernon still shut his ears to the suggestions of his
military colleagues ; and when the council, having received from him
a very non-pertinent answer, reassembled, it desired that the Vice-
Admiral would make arrangements for re-embarking the forces and
stores, since it appeared, from his silence concerning the material
point, that no reinforcement was to be looked for. On the 14th,
after some further interchange of messages, a general council of war,
consisting of the sea as w^ell as of the land officers, met on board the
flagship. The conference was stormy ; and, in the course of it,
A^ernon quitted his cabin in a passion. After his departure. Sir
' l"he loss was 179 killed : 459 woundeil, many mortally; and 10 taken prisoners.
1741.] WlTlIDItAWAh FJlOiV CARTAGENA. 75
Chaloner Ogle gave reasons for ob)(!cting to diseiiibai'k the seamen
frona the fleet ; and Vernon, who sat in his stern-walk within hearing,
interjected a remark to the effect that, if the men were set ashore,
some of them would inFiillibly desert to the enemy. The Vice-
Admiral then returned to his cabin, and the council unanimously
determined that the troops and guns should be re-embarked. In
pursuance of this decision, the guns, stores, and baggage were
reshipped on the 15tli, and the troops, only 356i) of wliom remained
fit for duty, on the lOth.
Vernon, who may, by that time, have begun to feel uneasy
concerning the effect which so signal a miscarriage would have upon
his reputation,' made a last, but quite useless effort, against the
town. Having fitted up his prize, the Galicia, as a floating battery
of sixteen guns, and having fortified her with earth or sand, he
caused her to be warped in as near as possible to the town. During
the morning of the Kith, under the command of Captain Daniel
Hore, she fired into the place continuously for seven hours. She
was then so damaged that she was ordered to cut her cables and
drift out of gunshot, but she grounded on a shoal, and had to be
abandoned." She lost six killed and fifty-six wounded. But for
the happy chance that she grounded, she would probably have sunk
with all hands, for she had received twenty shot between wind and
water.
As soon as the works which had been already taken had been
dismantled and destroyed, the wretched remains of the expedition
sailed for Jamaica, where the fleet arrived on May 19th, and where
it found a welcome convoy from England awaiting it. Commodore
Lestock, with many of the heavier ships ^ and five frigates, was soon
afterwards sent home in charge of the trade. Vernon, chiefly in
consequence of his dislike to be further associated with Wentworth,
wished to go home also ; but the ministry, which adroitly flattered
him, persuaded him to remain.
' It is also suggested that A'ernon desired to convince Gener.Tl Wentwnitli, by
actual experiment, that ships could not operate with success against the town. But, if
so, the experiment was not a fair one. The OaUcia did not get near the walla because
she approaclied them at the wrong point. Elsewhere there was deep watei- within
pistol-sh(.)t of the ramparts. Smollett, vii. 287.
^ She was subsequently burnt by the British.
' Princess Caroline, 80, Bussell, 80, Norfolk, 80, S/n-eivshury, SO, Princess Amelia,
80, Torhay, 80, Chichester, 80, Hamilton Court, 70, Barfoid, 70, Windsor, 60, and
Fiihiiuufh, .')0. Vernon transferred his (lag to the TSnyne, 80.
76 MAJOR Ol-EliATlUN!i, ITH-ITUL'. [1741.
The next attempt of the fleet in the West Indies was against
Santiago de Cuba. The home Government would have preferred
to see Havana attacked, but the place was strong, and the squadron
of Don Bodrigo de Torres lay in the port. Governor Trelawney,
of Jamaica, urged an expedition, across the Isthmus of Darien,
against Panama, but gave way to the representations of Vernon,
Ogle, Wentworth, and Guise, all of whom voted for Santiago de
Cuba as the town which, upon the whole, offered the brightest
prospects of success. On June 25th, therefore. Captain James
Kentone, in the Uipon, GO,* was dispatched to reconnoitre the
harbour and its defences, and on June 3()th the fleet - put to sea.
The Vice-Admiral left at Jamaica the Suffolk, 70, Strafford, 60,
Dunkirk, 60, Bristol, 50, Lichfield, 50, and Vulcan, 8, under
Captain Thomas Davers, to protect the island and its trade, and
ordered the York, 60, Augusta, 60, and Depfford, 60, which were
refitting at Port Koyal, to be completed for sea, and to be sent after
him, as soon as possible.
A spacious harbour lying near the south-east end of Cuba, and
then known as ^yalthenham Bay,^ was selected as the general
rendezvous ; and there the expedition dropped anchor on July 18th.
This harbour is about sixty-five miles to the eastward of Santiago,
which occupies the head of a much smaller bay, and which has
a well-defended narrow entrance, closed at that time by means of
a substantial boom. Santiago was supposed to be impregnable from
seaward, and the leaders of the fleet and army decided to attack it
overland from Cumberland Harbour. To facilitate this operation,
Vernon despatched some cruisers to watch twelve Spanish sail
of the line which la^' at Havana, and which constituted a " potential "
fleet of decidedly dangerous strength. He also sent other vessels
to blockade Santiago ; and across the mouth of Cumberland Harbour
he stationed six of his largest ships, so that, should any enemy
approach, the transports within could not be reached without a
' Captain Thomas Jolly bad died iu May. Lord Augustus Fitzroy, of the Orford,
70, had also fallen a victim to the climate soon after the arrival of the fleet at Jamaica.
^ Boyne, 80, flag of Vernon, Camherlwid, 80, flag of Ogle, Grafton, 70, Kent, 70,
Worcester, 60, Tilbury, 60, Montagu, 60, Chester, 50, Tiger, 50, Shoreiiam, 20, Experi-
ment, 20, Sheerness, 20, Alderney, bomb, Strombolo, Phaeton, and Vesuvius, fireships,
Bonetta and Triton, sloops. Princess Boyal and Scarborough, hospital ships, and
Pompey, tender, besides about 40 transports carrying 3400 troops.
^ Re-named Cumberland Harbour by Vernon. It is the bay between Punto de
(i\iantaiianio and Caimamtra.
1741.] TIIK FIASCO IN CUBA. 11
severe struggle. But iii tlie luoantinu! W(!iitwortli lost heart. He
landed, but he did not go far. The country IxU'ort' hiiu was thickly
wooded ; his men had rapidly become sickly ; he found great
difficulty in dragging his guns along with him ; and, although
Vernon assured him that, if he pressed on, he should find ships
before Santiago ready to co-operate with him, the General declined
to advance any further. The Vice-Admiral in person went round
to Santiago with a view to seeing whether, after all, he could not
devise some method of capturing it from the sea ; but he was obliged
to agree that the venture offered no chances of success. The whole
scheme, therefore, was abandoned, the troops being re-embarked on
November 20th, and the fleet quitting Cumberland Harbour for
Jamaica on November 28th.
This abortive enterprise was as ill-conceived as it was pusillani-
mously attempted. It was the professed desire of the ministry in
England, and of the naval and military chiefs on the spot, to
conquer Cuba.' Havana was then, as it is now, the capital and heart
of the island ; and Santiago was a comparatively insignificant place
of less strategic and commercial importance than to-day. Yet it was
determined to avoid Havana, and to attack Santiago, in spite of the
fact that at Havana lay the strong squadron of Don Kodrigo de
Torres. Sane strategy would have dictated firstly the annihilation
or neutralisation of that formidable "potential" fleet, and secondly
the dealing of a blow at the heart instead of at the extremities of the
island. That Don Eodrigo lay fast, and did not come out, affords no
justification of the British action. He might have elected to come
out ; and, had he done so, he might, with his superior force, have
crushed Vernon, who would have been hampered by the presence
of his transports and by the necessity of looking to their safety. As
for the pusillanimity with which the descent was attempted, it is
sufficient to say that Wentworth lay for about three months, almost
inactive, within three or four days' march of Santiago ; that there
was at no time any considerable body of Spanish troops between him
and that city ; that the landward defences of Santiago were known
to be contemptible ; and that the delay involved the sacrifice of
more men than would have perished in any active operations that
could have been necessary to secure the fall of the place.
' Settlers were actually iuvited to cross from North America, and were jirumiseil
grants of land in the island. — Speech of Gov. Shirley at Boston, Sept. 23rd, 1741. The
re-naming of places by the Britisli leaders was also significant.
78 • MAJOIl (JPEIIATIONS, ]71-!-lT<12. [iTtl.
The Ministry censui-ed botli Venujii and Wentworili, yet (jnly
with mildness, and chiefly on account of the personal quarrels which
had been allowed to spring up between them. The Duke of
Newcastle, on October 31st, wrote to Vernon : —
"His Majesty has coiiiiimnded me tu acquaint yuu and (ieneral Wentworth tliat
he sees with great ci>nceni the heals and animosities tliat have arisen hetween his
officers by sea and land, contrary to his orders, whereby tlie service cannot but greatly
sufi'er ; and I am ordered to recommend to you in the strongest manner carefully to
avoid the like for the future, and that, in case of any difi'erence of opinion, all acrimony
and AViirriitli of ex]iressioTi should be avoided."
After the collapse of the undertaking had become known in England,
neither Admiral nor General received from the Government any
much stronger blame than this. Yet one, if not both, should have
been recalled. It was obvious, even to their best friends,' that they
could not work satisfactorily one with the other. Unhappily, they
were allowed to embark together upon further adventures.
The transports from Santiago reached Jamaica in safetj', while
the fleet cruised for a time off Hispaniola in order to protect the
arrival of an expected convoy ^ from England. After a time, the
Vice-Admiral left part of his force, under Cai)tain Cornelius Mitchell,
of the Kent, 70, to look for the convoy, and proceeded to Jamaica,
where a council of war was held on January 8th, 174'2. The council
eventuallj' decided to adopt a plan which had been submitted to it
by Lowther, the ex-buccaneer, who knew the country well. This
involved a landing at Puerto Bello, and a march across the isthmus
to Panama, with three thousand soldiers, five hundred negroes, and
four hundred friendly Mosquito Indians. But many delays occm-red.
In the interval, Lowther, in the Triton, sloop, convo}-ed by
Captain Henry Dennis in the Exjjeriment, went to the Mosquito
coast to procure information and to make arrangements with the
natives. The Triton was for this service disguised as a trader. As
for Vernon, who was terribly impatient at the slowness with which
the land forces were being got ready, and who had learnt that
Spanish reinforcements were on their way to Cartagena, he occujjied
some of his spare time in making a cruise off Cartagena, with the
' Piilteney"s amiable appeals to A'ernuu to control liis temper were almost pathetic.
See especially Pulteney's letter of Nov. 17th, 1741, in 'Letters to an Honest Sailor.'
- The convoy, consisting of the Oreenwich, 50, »S'^. Albans, 50, and Foi; 20, with
transports containing about two tnousand troops, reached Jamaica on January 15th,
without having sighted Mitchell's squadron.
1711'.] FAlLlIllEti Oh' VERNON AND WENTWORTII. 79
object of suggesting to tlie eucniy that lu; wms coiitniijiliiiing a iu:\v
attack upon that place. Sir Clialoner Ogle, wlio liail been left hcliimi
at Jamaica to bring on the main bndy of the expeditionary forces,
was not able to sail until the middle ol' Maicli, 171'2. On the 'iHth
of that month, he rejoined the Vice-AdmiraJ, and the fleet ^ then
made the best of its way to its destination.
The Experiment and Triton had been directed to make rendezvous
with the fleet off the Bastinientos Islands, in what is now called the
Gulf .of San Bias. On March 'J(3th, Vernon detached the Montagu,
Captain William Chambers, to look for those vessels, and to order
them, in case they should be fallen in with, to join a detachment
which was to land a body of troops at Nombre de Dios, at the
head of the gulf of San Bias.- The fleet sighted land near the
Bastimentos on March '28th, but, seeing nothing of the Expcrhumt
and Triton, passed on to Puerto Bello, and, entering the harbour
in line of battle, dropped anchor there before nightfall, without any
opposition on the part of the Spanish Governor, who fled with such
troops as he had.
Lowther's report, received when the fleet was at Puerto Bello, had
the effect of convincing General "VVentworth that the design against
Panama was impracticable ; yet Wentworth was so lacking in tact
that, instead of communicating his decision directly to A'ernon, he
mentioned it casually to Governor Trelawney, the result being that
A^ernon's first intimation that the expedition was destined to be a
failure was conveyed to him in the form of a private request from
Trelawney for a passage back to Jamaica. Wentworth's views were
formally adopted at a council of war at which seven military officers
were present, and were ratified at a general covincil composed of
three military and two naval officers. A^ernon and Ogle formed the
minority, and could do notliing but acquiesce, although the A'ice-
Admiral was strongly of opinion that, seeing that Panama had in
earlier years been taken from across the isthmus by Sir Henry
Morgan with five hundred buccaneers, it might be taken again by
the much larger forces which were at the disposal of the British
' Boyne, 80, flag of Vernon, Cumhcrland, 80, flag of Ogle, Keni, 70, Or/ord, 70,
IVorcester, 60, Defiance, GO, York, 60, Montagu, 60, St. Alhans, 50, and Grcenu-ich, 50,
with three fireships, two hospital ships, and abo\it forty transports. Covernor
Trelawney, as a colonel, was with the troops.
^ This landing was never cft'ected. The Jixjicriinent and Triton rejoined the fleet
at Puerto Bello.
so MAJoit opehations, r,u-\nvi. [1742.
leaders in 1742. The fleet, therefore, quitted Puerto Bello for
Jamaica on April 3rd, having effected nothing.'
Indeed, the only important advance made in the West Indies in
the course of the year was the annexation and settlement of lioatan
Island, in the bay of Honduras, by an expedition ^ from Jamaica
convoyed by the Lichfield, 50, Captain James Cusack, and the
Bonctfa, sloop, Commander William Lea. Nor is it astonishing
that so little was done. The Admiral and the General were on
worse terms than ever, and their quarrels were taken up by all
around them. Even Ogle and Trelawney fell out. So scandalous
a state of things was terminated, after it had endured far too long,
by the arrival at Jamaica on September '23rd of the Gibraltar, 20,
Captain Thorpe Fowke, with orders for both Vernon , and Went-
worth to return to England. Vernon sailed in the Boyne, 80, on
October 18th, leaving Sir Chaloner Ogle in command of the station ;
and Wentworth, with the remnants of the army, departed soon
afterwards, under convoy of the Defiance, 60, Captain Daniel Hore,
and the Worcester, 60, Captain William Cleland.
In the Mediterranean, where there had been scarcely a large
enough naval force for the due protection of trade, and for the due
observation of the declared and the suspected enemies of Great
Britain, Vice-Admiral Nicholas Haddock had been joined, in
February, 1742, by a considerable reinforcement under Commodore
Kichard Lestock (2), who, on March 13th following, was promoted
to be Rear-Admiral of the White. ^ According to Charnock, Lestock,
during this period, " exhibited some proofs of that impatient temper
and improper professional pride which, afterwards becoming infinitely
more apparent, cannot but be condemned even by those who are so
warmly attached to him as to insist that no part of his conduct was
ever injurious or prejudicial to the cause and interests of his native
country."* Haddock, owing to ill-health, had to resign his
command and return to England ; '" and, pending the arrival in the
Mediterranean of his successor, Lestock officiated as commander-in-
chief. Lestock acted with some energy against the enemy, whom
' The British cruisers were, Imwever, very .succes.sful, as will be seen in the next
chapter.
^ Which reached Eoatan ou August L'3rd.
' He was further advanced to he Hear of tlie Red, on August 9th, 1743, and Vice
of the AVhite, on December 7th, 1743.
' ' Biog. Kav.' iii. 340.
^ Which he reached in the Roebuck, 40, on Ma}' 2Gth, 1742.
17-12.] LESTOCK'S ciiahacteh. 81
he obliged to postpone an intended embarkation of troops ; but, on
the other hand, he again allowed his unfortunate temper to get the
better of him. In view of what happened at a later date, it is
desirable to reprint here from Charnock ' an order and certain letters
which will explain not only Lestock's peremptory methods, but also
his interpretation, at that time, of some of the duties of subordinate
commanders when in face of the enemy.
]in.\H-Al)MlU.\L LeSTOCK TO CoMM.WDEU .TaMUS IIoDSEI.L, OF TIU':
Ann GalUty, fiuesiih'.
"Captain Hod sell : Go to the Lenox, Nass'in, Royal Oah, L'oinney, a.m\ ])i-ayo».''
Tell them I am the centre from whence the line of battle is to he formed, and, if any
ship or ships cannot get into their stations, I am to find remedy for that ; but those
who can, and do not, get into their stations are blanieable ; and a line of battle is not
to be trifled with nor misunderstood. Go with this yourself to the several captains,
from. Sir, 5'our most humble servant, lUcliard Lestock. Nevtune, at sea. April 14th,
1742. P.S. — An enemy in sight would not admit of this deliberation."
Capt,\in Cuktis Barxet, of tub Dragon, to Rear-Admiral Lestock.
"I thought that all the ships of a fleet or squadron were to sail in their proper
divisions. 1 have heard and read of divisions ge;ting late into the line, not in time
to have any part in the action ; but never knew till now that it was my duty to leave
the flag, or officer representing one, in whose division I am, without a particular order
or signal. I therefore kept my station in the division, not with a design to trifle with
the line of battle. I am, etc., C. Barnet."
Kear-Admiral Lestock to Captain Curtis Barnet.
" I have your letter of the 15th inst., in answer to wine I sent you and several
other ca]itaius by Captain Hodsell ou the 14th inst., at the time the signal was out for
the line of battle abreast of each other. Yoiu' not getting into line wlien you could
have done it, gave me that occasion by the fireship.
"You say you thought that the ships of a fleet or squadron were to sail in their
proper divisions ; and you have heard and read of divisions getting late into the line,
not in time to have any part of the action ; but never till now knew that it was your
duty to leave the flag, or officer representing one, in whose division you are, without a
particular order or signal.
"Let us suppose that you are in a division, and that a signal for the line of battle
is made; and tliat the commanding ship of that division, by bad sailing, could not
get into the line, though all the rest of the squadron could have got into the line, but
did not. That division makes one-third of the sqnadron.
" Now : is it your duty to see two-thirds of the squadron sacrificed to the enemy,
when you could, but did not, join in the battle? An admiral, in such a case, would
either leave the bad sailing ship for one that could get into the action, or would send
' ' Biog. Nav.' iv. 213 et seg. Charnock says : " Mr. Lestock appears in his
vehemence of rage to have been guilty of a few literary omissions and mistakes, which
we have supplied and corrected." The present editor has adopted some of Charnock's
emendations and made others, chiefly with respect to punctuation.
^ The Dragon, 60, Captain Curtis Barnet.
VOL. III. G
82 MAJOIl OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1742.
you such orders ;is should just ify you at a court-martial lor not corning into the action
when you could have done it. Captain Rowley,' indeed, has not the power either to
shift his- -ship, or to stop you with him.
" Such an account would lell Init ill to our country after the Kss of a battle. But
I hoj^e such a thing can never hajipen to an Englishman ; and the punishment inflicted
on a breach of the 12th article of the Statute of Charles the Second upon those who
withdraw, or keep back, or do not come into the fight and engage, would be what
must follow in such a case.
"So I will say no more of trifling nor misunderstanding of a line of battle ; as
these are, and must be, the consequences of a not trifling want of duty in the weighing
of circumstances in regard to battle : for that is the cause why lines are formed.^
" The 13th article of the Fighting Instructions ' leans that way also. So, having, I
think, answered your letter, I am. Sir, your most humble servant, Richard Lestock.
Nepimic, at sea. April IGth, 1742."
Captain Curtis IJakxkt to liiCAR-AnMiRAi, Lkstock.
•• Dragnn, April 16th, 1742.
" Sir, — As you have given yourself the trouble to answer the letter I thought
necessary to write in excuse for my continuing in my station in the division of which
1 am, when you made the signal for the line of battle abreast, and in it are pleased to
say : ' Is it your duty to see two-thirds of the squadron sacrificed to the enemy, when
you could, and did not, join in the battle?' I answer that I should readily concur
in punishing rigidly any man who could, and did not, join in the battle. But, as the
commanders of divisions will, I imagine, always expect that the captains, in their
respective divisions, should, in anything like the late case, take directions from them,
and, as we are to supipose every officer of that distinction neither wanting in zeal or
capacity, I can make no doubt that such orders would be immediately given as would
be most essential for his Majesty's service; and that a signal or order might be
expected for the ships to make sail into the line if the commander of the division
could not get up with his own ship, and did not think proper to remove into another.
Without such an order or a proper signal, I could not in my conscience condemn any
man for i-emaiuing with his division, or think that he fell under the 12th article of the
Statute of Charles the Second, or the 13th of the Fighting Instructions ; for a man in
his station cauuot be said to withdraw, keep back, or not use his endeavours to engage
the enemy in the order the admiral has prescribed. In this manner I should judge,
were I to sit at a court-martial on such an occasion ; but in this manner shall no
longer act, since you have been pleased to tell me Cajjtain Rowlej' has not the power
to shift his ship or stop me.
" I presume there are instances both of whole divisions going down to the enemy
too soon, and of coming in so late as to have no part in the action ; but I never heard
that the private captains who kept their stations in those divisions fell under the least
censure; and, as I was neither called nor sent from the division by order or signal, I
bad no apprehension of being blameable.
' Afterwards Admiral of the Fleet, Sir AVilliam Rowle}' : then senior officer of
Barnet's division. Lestock meant that, as there was no flag-officer of the division,
there was no jiossible question as to what was Barnet's duty.
^ I.e., " After all, I will not speak of this as trifling, for it is far too light a word to
apply to so serious a subject."
' " As soon as the Admiral shall hoist a red flag on the flagstaff at the fore-topmast
head, and fire a gun, every ship in the fleet is to use their utmost endeavour to engage
the enemy, in the order the Admiral has prescribed unto them."
1742.] MATIIEWfi TO THE MKDJTKnilANKAN. 83
"Willi luguiJ to what you are ]ileaseil to say of seeing the squach'oii sacrificed to
the enemy, that cannot happen while yuii, Sir, command it, who will never go down
to the enemy in an improper mnniicr. witli more sail than the ]]riiicipal ships of the
line can keep you company. . . ."
Lestock had, undoubtedly. Loped to be continued as commander-
in-chief in the Mediterranean ; but Vice-Admiral Thomas Mathews
(K.) ' was appointed to that post on March 25th, 1742, and, having
hoisted his flag in the Naiiiar, 90, sailed on April 16th, ^ and arrived
at Gibraltar on May 7th. Lestock was hurt, and he is said to have
foolishly showed his resentment by neglecting to obey instructions
to send a frigate to meet Mathews. For this supposed omission
Mathews publicly reprimanded Lestock as soon as the two flag-
otiicers met.'' From that moment the junior seems to have regarded
his senior with scarcely-disguised hostility.
Mathews was a good oflicer, as strict in obeying as he was in
enforcing discipline, and a jealous, yet not intemperate, believer in
the dignity of the great position to which he had been called by his
country. He was, moreover, a highly honourable man, of con-
spicuous gallantry. Lestock, on the other hand, was ever more
ready to enforce than to obey the laws of discipline. In his eyes,
his own person was fully as dignified as any rank or place with
which his country could invest him. " Unconciliating in his
manners, austere when in command, restless when in a subordinate
station, he had," says Charnock, "fewer friends than fell to the lot
of most men, and that number, which was gradually diminishing,
his behaviour never appeared of a nature to recruit." His courage
has not been questioned, but his abilities, which were considerable,
were contracted and neutralised by a petty meanness of spirit and
smallness of view that prevented him from ever commanding either
confidence or respect. That Mathews disliked Lestock cannot be
gainsaid.^ Almost every naval officer of the day dishked Lestock.
' Thomas Mathews ; horn, lUTO ; captain, 1703 ; took the Bien Aime, 26, in 1707,
and the Olorkux, 44, in 1700 ; commanded the Kent at Cape Passaro, in 1718 ;
Commissioner at Chatham, 1736 ; Vice-Admiral and Commander-in-Chief in the
Mediterranean, 1742 ; Admiral, 1743 ; fought a spirited hut jiartial action oil" Toulon,
1744 ; dismissed the service, 1746 ; died, 1751.
- In Company with the Friiicess Caroline, 80, Norfolk, 80, and Bedfonl, 70.
^ Lestock alleged that he had sent a frigate, which had failed to fall in with
Mathews. It is admitted that, in this instance, no matter what were the tacts as to
the frigate, the Vice-Admiral behaved with somewhat unnecessary warmth.
* When he accepted his appointment, he stipulated that Lestock should be speedily
recalled, but the stipulation was afterwards either forgotten or misunderstood. —
Beatson, i. 153.
G 2
84 MAJOR OI'ERATIONH, 1714-17G2. [1742.
But Mathewa was the last man in the world to allow his private
disliives to interfere with his duty.
The Vice-Admiral met the Rear- Admiral and part of the fleet at
Villa Franca on May 27th. He at once instituted a strict watching
blockade of Toulon, where a Spanish, as well as a French force, lay.
This blockade was maintained chiefly by the division of Lestock,
whose headquarters were off Hyeres, while Mathews himself
remained in reserve at Villa Franca, ready to sail upon the receipt
of news that the enemy was at sea. In June, five S])aiiish galleys,
which were to have escorted some Spanish troops to Italy, and
which were laden with ammunition and stores, ventured to quit the
shelter of Fort Ste. Marguerite, and crept round under the coast as
far as the Gulf of St. Tropez. Captain Harry Norris, of the
Kingston, 60, with a small detachment, blockaded them there, and
when, although they were in a neutral port, they fired on him, he
effected their destruction.^ Other Spanish vessels were destroyed at
Palamos, Mataro, and elsewhere.
In July, 1742, the Vice-Admiral, who had intelligence that the
King of Sicily had dispatched a body of troops to the assistance of
the Spaniards in Italy, ordered Commodore WiUiam Martin, with a
small squadron,^ to Naples, to endeavour to induce the King to
withdraw his forces, and to adhere to a declaration of neutrality.
Should the King refuse, Martin was to bombard the city. The
squadron arrived, and anchored in the Bay on August 19th ; and
Martin sent ashore Commander de I'Angle with an ultimatum, and
a demand for an answer in half-an-hour, unless, indeed, the King
could not be reached within that time. After very little delay, the
required assurance was given on the 20th, and the squadron there-
upon departed, to the great relief of the Neapolitans. The incident,
most creditably managed by Martin, would, perhaps, have had
comparatively little importance, had not the same prince who, in
1742, was King of Sicily, become, in 1759, King Carlos III. of
Spain. He then remembered against Great Britain the coercion
which had been employed against huu by the Commodore, and,
towards the end of the Seven Years' War, and during the War of
• ' For details of this, see next chapter.
^ Ipswich, 70, Commodore William Martin, Panther, 50, Captain Solomon Gideon,
Oxford, 50, Captain Lord Harry Powlett, Feotraham, 40, Captain Eichard Huglies (2),
Dursley Oallcy, 20, Commander Merrick de I'Angle; and the bombs, Carcass, 8,
Lieut. John Bowdler, Salarnand'-r, 8, Lieut. John Philhpson, and Terrible, 8, Lieut,
the Hon. George Edgcuml.ie ; besides four tenders.
1743.] ATTACK ON J, A (lUAYllA. 85
Anieric.LU Ilevolutioii, never ceiiscd to do all tliat lay in his power to
ruin the naval might which ha,(l tlins liiuniliatcd liini.
Commodore Martin rejoined the flag, and was soon afterwards
again detached to destroy certain storehouses and magazines at
Alassio, in the territory of the repubhc of Genoa. These, which
were known to he destined for the use of the Spaniards, were all set
on fire by a landing-party from the ships.
In 1743, the blockade of Toulon was continued, and Admiral
Mathews, as before, exerted himself to the utmost to hinder the
operations of the Spaniards in the Italian peninsula, and the trans-
mission thither of stores and reinforcements from Spain. But the
transactions on the station were not of sufficient importance to
deserve description in this chapter. They are, therefore, relegated
to the next.
One of the first actions of Sir Chaloner Ogle (1) ' after he had, as
has been seen, been left as commander-in-chief in the West Indies,
upon Vernon's recall, was to organise an expedition against the
Spanish settlements at La Guayra and Puerto Cabello, on the coast
of Caracas, in what is now Venezuela. These were reported to be
almost defenceless, and to be at the mercy of the fleet. Ogle
entrusted the conduct of the expedition to Captain Charles Knowles,
in the Suffolk, 70, and gave him directions to proceed first to
Antigua, there to take under his orders such additional vessels as
could he spared, and to embark a certain number of troops.
Knowles carried out these instructions, and on February 12th, 1743,
sailed for La Guayra. After touching at St. Christopher, he arrived
off his port of destination on the 18th.
It is quite true that when Ogle first contemplated the descent
upon the coast of Caracas, La Guayra was almost defenceless.
Unfortunately, the Admiral suffered his projects to become known,
and the Spanish governor of the place, with great promptitude and
vigour, thereupon set himself to work to repair the fortifications, to
build new ones, to raise extra forces, and to obtain fresh supplies of
ammunition. -
When, consequently, on February 18th, the squadron began the
attack at about midday, a warm and formidable opposition was met
' Promoted to be Vice-Admiral of the Red on Avigiist 9tli, and Vice- Admiral of the
White on December 7th, 1743.
'^ Some of this ammunition was obtained from tlie Dutcli Governor of Curacoa,
who, by handing it over, committed an imwarrantable breach of the Dutch under-
standing; with Great Britain.
86
MAJOI! OPERATIONS, 17H-17G-J.
[1743.
with. There was a swell which prevented the vessels from
approaching within ahout a mile from the forts, and the landing of
the troops was found to be impracticable. Yet, although an attempt
to burn the shipping in harbour, by means of armed Vjoats, failed as
a result of confusion of orders, and although the ships suffered badly,
it looked, at 4 o'clock p.m., as if the fire of the batteries was about
to be silenced. But at that hour, a chance shot cut the cable of the
Burfonl, which was anchored at the head of the British line. The
Burford drove on board the Norwich, and forced )>oth her and the
Eltham. out of station, the three vessels drifting almost helplessly to
leeward. This re-encouraged the enemy, and although, up to
nightfall, the attack was pluckily continued, the Biitish, after the
accident, had much the worse of the encounter, and were ultimately
obliged to draw off. La Guayra was severely damaged ; a magazine
was blown up by a shell from the Comet, and about seven hundred
Spaniards were killed and wounded. Yet, in spite of the gallantry
of the assailants, the day ended with their decisive repulse. The
composition of Knowles's squadron, and the damage and loss
sustained by each ship, are shown in the following table : —
Ships.
3
5
Curomauders.
ll
Com-
plement.
'5
5
Suffolk. .
70
Cajjt. Charles Knowles .
97
380
30
80
Burford
70
„ Franklin Lushingtou .
73
380
24
50
Aorunch .
50
„ Thomas Gregorv (1) .
7
250
1
11
Advice .
50
„ Elliot Smith ....
10
250
7
15
Assistance .
50
„ Smith Callis ....
41
250
12
71
hWiam
40
„ Richard Watkins (actins;).
44
210
14
55
Lively .
20
„ Henrv Stewart (actin»)
10
120
7
24
Scarhorouqh
20
Commander Lachlin Leslie .
3
120
2
OWr . .
14
„ John Ga^e .
V
45
f1^im^^f,^M^\^^\\
fi
Rii-hara Tyrrell. .
0
4(1
I Shot iu the hull uuly are intliided.
Captain Lushington, of the Burford, a most excellent officer, was
mortally wounded by a chain-shot, which carried off one of his legs
at the thigh. He died at Cura(,'oa on February •23rd, two hours
after he had been landed there. The Burford, Eltham, and
Assistance, were almost completely disabled ; the flagship had
fourteen guns dismounted ; and the squadron, as a whole, was, for
the moment, unserviceable. It, therefore, proceeded to Cura9oa
to refit.
1743.] liEl'in.S^K AT rVKRTO CAJIh'L/JK 87
As soon as liu ])a(l rcfittc-d, :uid had supplemented liis ratlicr
reduced forces by taking on board a few Dutch volunteers, Captain
Knowles, in pursuance of tiie C'.oniinander-in-Cbief's design, turned
his attention to Puerto Cabelio. He sailed on March '20th, but,
owing to a strong lee current, could not anchor in the neighbourhood
of his destination until April 15th.
Puerto Cabelio was even better prepared to receive him than La
Guayra had been. There were in the place three hundred regular
troops, twelve hundred seamen belonging to the vessels in port, and
a large body of negroes and Indians. The Spaniards had hauled all
their smaller craft up to the head of the harbour out of gunshot, and
had moored a ship of sixty, and another of forty guns, in good
defensive positions, while they had placed a large vessel ready for
sinking in the mouth of the liarbour. Newly-erected fascine
batteries flanked the entrance, and two more, one mounting twelve,
and the other seven guns, occupied a low point called I'unta Brava.
These last, in the opinion of Knowles, were ill-placed, and might be
easily taken, and then employed against the fortress itself. He
therefore, after having held a council of war, ordered in the Lively
and Elthaiii, on the afternoon of the 16th, to cannonade the Punta
Brava works, and prepared a landing-party, consisting of Dalzell's
regiment, all the Marines of the squadron, and four hundred seamen,^
which, as soon as the batteries should be silenced, was to storm
them, while the Assistance lay anchored within pistol-shot of the
shore to cover a retreat, should one be necessary.
The Lively and Eltham effected their part of the work by about
sunset. All firing then ceased. As it grew dark the storming-party
landed, and began to march along the beach towards the batteries,
Knowles accompanying the advance in his galley. Just before
11 P.M. the foremost troop seized one of the batteries ; but, at that
moment, the Spaniards, being alarmed, began to fire from the other
works, and, to the mortification of the British leaders, so blind a
panic seized the men that they retired pell-mell in the most absolute
confusion, and did not regain their self-possession until they were
once more on board the ships.
After this disgraceful repulse, another council of war was held on
April '21st, and, in pursuance of the resolutions then come to, a
general attack from seaward was made upon the place on the
morning of the '24th. The Assistance, Bur-ford, Suffolk, and
' The whole being under Major Lucas, of Dalzell's Eegiment.
88 MAJOn Ol'EllATlONS, 1714-17(;2. [1743.
Noririvli were told off to liiitter the luaiii work, and the Scar-
l)oniin/l/, Liri'lij. and I'JIIIkiiii, to attack the fascine hatteries at the
entrance of the harhour. Fire was opened at about 11 a.m., all the
ships taking up their stations * as well as they possibly could, except
the Norwich, which apparently hesitated to get into close action.
Seeing this, Knowles very promptly sent Captain Henry Stewart
(acting), of the Livchj, to supersede Captain Thornas Gregory, who
was put under arrest." Thenceforward, the engagement was hotly
maintained until the close of day, when the enemy's fire slackened,
and it became evident that his batteries had suffered severely. He
reopened fire, however, after dark, and so badly mauled the ships —
some of which had, by that time, expended nearly all their ammuni-
tion— that, soon after 9 P.M., Knowles made the signal to cut cables,
and drew off his shattered vessels.
The ships actually engaged in this disastrous affair were, saving
the Advice, Otter, and Comet, the same as had been engaged at La
Guayra, but some of them were differently commanded. Captain
Bichard Watkins had been promoted from the Elthatn to the
Burford, vice Lushington, killed; Captain Pliilip Dui'ell (1) had suc-
ceeded Captain Watkins in the Eltham ; and, after the supersession
of Captain Gregory, Commander John Gage, of the Otter, assumed
command of the Livchj. The loss of the squadron was about two
hundred men killed and wounded. The ships refitted under shelter
of the Kej's of Barbarat, and were there rejoined by the Advice,
which had been detached on scouting duty on March 23rd. On
April '28th it was determined that the force was no longer in a con-
dition to attempt anything more against the enemy ; and, after an
exchange of prisoners had been carried out, the ships belonging to
the Leeward Islands' station ^ returned thither, and the rest of the
squadron proceeded to Jamaica. Captain Knowles, in the autumn,
cruised off Martinique, and, soon afterwards, went home to
England.
Late in 1743, the excited condition of parties in England, and
' In til is they were impeded by the sinking of the Spanish vessel in the harbour's
nioHtli.
- He was latei- sent to Enghand and court-rnartialled at Spithead for misbehaviour.
(C. M. Sept. 17th, 1743.) The court dismissed liim from the service ; but, after distin-
guishing liimself iis a volunteer, he was restored to his rank as from Xov. 12tli, 17-15.
He ended his life in a duel.
^ Where Commodore (later Vice-Admiral Sir) Peter Warren commanded, witli his
broad'pennant in the Superbe, GO.
1744.] IIOSrJLlTY OF FltANCK. 89
the widespread dissatisfaction tliere at the iiianiuT in wliicli the
interests of Great Britain had, according to the views of many, been
sacrificed to those of Hannover, encouraged France to take up an
active, instead of a merely benevolent attitude, with reference to the
cause of Spain. ^ France was further encouraged in the same
direction by the growing jealousy with which tlie Emperor, the
King of Prussia, and their allies, regarded the pretensions of Maria
Theresia, Queen of Hungary, and by the results of the secret
negotiations which were set on foot at Frankfurt-on-Main with the
object of checking the alleged ambitions of that very able princess.
France, therefore, concluded at Fontainebleau an offensive and
defensive family alliance with Spain, each party guaranteeing the
possessions and claims of the other, and agreeing that no peace
should be concluded until the restoration of Gibraltar by Great
Britain. France also despatched reinforcements to the aid of Philip
in Savoy ; directed M. La Bruyere de Court, Lieutenant-General of
the French squadron in Toulon, to co-operate with the Spanish
squadron which, under Don Jose Navarro, had so long lain blockaded
there by Admiral Mathews ; and, early in 1744, sent forth from
Brest Lieutenant-General de Eoquefeuil, with nineteen men-of-war,^
to cruise in the Channel.
The objects of France were manifold. She desired, firstly, to
expel Great Britain from the Mediterranean, and then, by sending
her own Mediterranean fleet to join her squadrons in the Channel,
to annihilate British superiority in those waters as well : she hoped,
next, to oblige Great Britain to recall her troops from the Continent,
and to desist from supporting on shore the cause of Maria Theresia :
and, finally, she looked forward to fomenting revolution in England,
and to restoring to the throne the exiled family of Stuart, by means
of an invasion from Dunquerque.
The assumption by France of this actively hostile attitude had
the happy effect of partially calming the violence of party rage in
Great Britain. The command of the Channel Fleet ^ was given to
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Norris, with Vice-Admiral Sir
Charles Hardy (1) (B), and Bear- Admiral \Yilliam Martin (B), as his
' The Treaty of "Worms, September 1743, leagued together Great Britain, Holland,
Austria, Saxony, and Sardinia. This was met, in October 1743, by the Treaty of
Frankfurt, which banded together France, Prussia, Hessen Cassel, and the Pfalz.
^ These were presently joined by some from Eochefort.
' This presently included twenty-five ships of 50 guns and upwards, and twenty-
four frigates and small craft.
!t() MAJOl! OI'KIIATIONS, 1711-1702. [1741.
immediate subordinates. Norris wished to go in seaiuh of M. de
Roquefeuil, but, it being feared that the latter might possibly pass
the British fleet at night, or in thick weather, and so get to
Dunquerque, where a French army was awaiting his escort, the
Commandei--in-Chief was ordered to proceed with his whole strength
to the Downs. De Eoquefeuil was sighted off the Eddystone on
February 3rd, with, it would appear, sixteen ships of fifty guns and
upwards, and seven frigates and smaller craft. A little later,
believing Norris to have taken refuge in Portsmouth, he detached
five vessels, under M. de Barrailh, to Dunquerque, and himself
anchored off Dungeness on February •24th.
De Barrailh seems to have passed Nonis in the night. The
latter, learning of De Eoquefeuil's presence to the westward,
weighed, and, although the wind was contrary, worked up towards
him. At that moment the position of the French was extremely
precarious. But, when he was not much more than six miles from
the enemy, Norris was obliged by the tide, which made strongly
against him, to anchor. De Eoquefeuil thereupon got all his anchors
apeak, and, as soon as the tide set in his favour, ordered his ships
to weigh, and make independently for Brest. Many of the captains
were too apprehensive to literally obey the command. Most of them
cut or slipped, in order to lose as little time as possible; and, a
strong north-westerlj' gale springing up, they went off at a great
rate. The gale increased to a storm, and a fog supervened. The
French reached Brest, ship by ship, in a more or less crippled
condition, and Norris, hopeless of being able to overtake them, and
having himself suffered considerably, returned to the Downs, and
thence despatched his three-decked ships to Spithead, where they
could lie in greater safety from the weather.^
In the meantime, the French flotilla before Dunquerque had
experienced the full effects of the storm ; and several transports with
troops and stores on board had foundered, or had been driven ashore.
"When news arrived of the flight of de Boquefeuil, de Barrailh also
returned to Brest ; and, there being no longer any prospect of a
successful invasion of the United Kingdom, the rest of the French
troops were disembarked, and the Young Pretender, who had been
with them, returned to Paris. De Eoquefeuil died on board his
flagship, the Superbe, 76, on March 8th, and was succeeded in the
' Sir John Norris soon afterwards hauled down his flag for the last time. He was
succeeded in command of the Channel Fleet by Sir John Balclien.
17-14.] CO-OriaiATION OF IIOLl.AND. !)1
command by the Chef d'Escadre, later Vice-Admiral, Blonet de
Camilly, who was directed to <,niard tlK; French coasts and to detach
de Barrailh to cruise off the Scilly Islands. In spite of the nature
of these events, war was not formally declared by France until
March '20th.' A counter-declaration was returned by Great Britain
on the 31st" of the same month.
The outbreak of formal hostilities enabled the British Government
to request Holland, under the stipulations of the treaty, to supply a
naval force to co-operate with the British fleets. The States-General
had already, in view of war, equipped some ships of forty-foixr guns
and upwards ; and they presently sent these and others, a few at
a time, to the Downs, under Lieutenant-Admiral Hendrik Grave,'' in
the Haarlem, 74, Vice-Admiral AVillem 'T Hooft, in the Dordrecht,
54, Vice-Admiral Cornelis Schrijver, in the Damiateu, 64, and
Eear-Admiral Jacob Keijnst, in the Leeuwenhorst, 54. As the
names and force of the ships are wrongly given in all English
histories, they are here copied from De Jonge : — *
Haarlem, 72, JJuidrecht, 04, Damiateu, (U, Leeua-tnliurft, 54, Delft, iA, Assen-
delft, 54, Edam, 54, BeekvUet, 54, Oorcum, 41-, Oud 'I'ijHngen, 44, Middelburg, 44,
Goiiderak, 44, Bnderode, 54,^ Tholen, 64,^ Zierikzce, G4,' Goes, (i4,'' Kasteel van
Medemblik, 54,^ Bamhorst, 54,° Prins Friso, 54,'' Vrieslcnd, CA.^
Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Hardy (1) (E) was sent southward with
a squadron to escort the trade to Lisbon and some storeships to
Gibraltar ; Admiral Sir John Balchen and Vice-Admiral William
Martin (B) cruised with a fleet in the Channel ; and Sir John
Balchen subsequently sailed with Martin and Vice-Admiral James
Stewart (E) '^ to release Hardy's convoy, which was reported to have
been blocked up in the Tagus by a French squadron. A small force,
under Commodore Curtis Barnet, was also despatched to the East
Indies ; and Vice-Admiral Thomas Davers proceeded to the West
Indies to relieve Sir Chaloner Ogle. The operations of these officers
will be followed later. First, however, some attention miist be
' By ordinance dated March 15th.
- By ])roclamation dated March 29tli.
' Botli Beatson, i. 184, and Ilervey, iv. 257, fur sunic iinexpLained reason, call this
officer "Admiral Baccarest, or Baccherest." The contingent was officially styled the
Auxiliary Squadron.
■* ' Nederl. Zeewezen,' iv. 182.
^ These did not join until late in the year.
° Stewart, Hardy, and Martin were not promoted t<i the raid;s here given until
June 23rd.
92
MA.IOIl (ll'ERATIONH, 1714-1702.
[1744.
paid to the work oi' the Navy in the Mediterranean, wliere the
earliest fleet action of the war was fought.
Admiral Thomas Mathews,^ being then at Turin,- was informed
on Deceml^er 30th, 1743, that de Koquefeuil had sailed from Brest.
The intelligence was incori'ect, Irat it induced him to suspect that
co-operation between the Brest and Toulon squadrons was intended.
He therefore sent orders to Minorca that all ships there were to put
to sea at once. A little later, he heard that M. La Bruyere de
Court and Don Jose Navarro purposed to quit Toulon together on
January '20th ; and, hastening to Villa Franca, he embarked to join
Vice-Admiral Lestock, off Hyeres. Upon arriving there early in
■'me n I t e j< r .1 y e >i *
Too/' <t &^ a It^ut
January, 1744, he found himself at the head of only twenty sail
of the line, four of which mounted but fifty guns apiece ; but on
the 11th he was reinforced by the Elizabeth, 70, Berwick, 70,
Priiiccsa, 70, and Marlborough, 90 ; on Februar}' 3rd, by the
Somerset, 80, Warwick, 60, and Dragon, GO; on February 10th, by
the Boyne, 80, and Chichester, 80, which had been sent out from
England ; and on the 11th, on the very eve of the battle, by the
jRoi/al Oak, 70. In the interval, he kept himself admirably informed,
by means of his frigates, of the motions and designs of the enemy.
' He was pronwted to be Admiral of the White by tlie Guzetie of February 18th, 1744.
- Where he had been concerting measures with the Sardinian Government for the
defence of the Italian coasts.
17-J4.]
MATIUCWS AND TIIK A 1.1.1 EH.
9.3
On February 9tli, the coniLincd fleet appeared under sail in the
outer road of Toulon, and there formed a line of battle. Mathews
had already unmoored and shortened in cable, and at 10 A.M. he
weighed, the wind being westerly. Half an hour afterwards, he
formed his line of battle ahead, and then plied to windward between
the islands and the mainland, as if inviting the enemy to bear down
on bim. At night, having stationed cruisers to watch the foe, be
SIR Wn.l.IAJI ROWLEY, K.l!., ADJIIRAI. OF THE FLEET.
anchored in Hyeres Bay. That evening, when Vice-Admiral
Lestock visited bis chief on board tbe Namur, Mathews seems to
have received bim coldly, and to have presently desired him to
return to his own ship.
At dawn on February 10th, tbe British weighed with a land
breeze ; and at 7 A.M., tbe wind being from E. or E.S.E.,^ Mathews
' At tliat time tlie allies had, or aiipeareJ to liave, a westerty wind.
!'4 MA.IOI! Dlr-KnATIOS'S, 1711-1762. [17.44.
signalled for his tieet to draw into line of battle ahead with the wind
large, and for Lestock's division to lead with the starboard tacks
on board. Both A^ce-Admiral Lestock and Eear-Adrniral M''illiam
Eowley repeated the signal, but, as the wind was very light, and
there was a hea\^' swell from the westward, there was much
difficulty in getting out of the bay in anything hke the prescribed
order ; and for some hours many of the ships had to tow with their
boats in order to keep clear of one another. The enemy was seen
at a distance of twelve or fifteen miles to the S.W. At 1 p.m.
Mathews again signalled for the line of battle ahead ; and at 2 p.m.
he hoisted a blue flag at the mizzen-topmast head, and fired a gun.'
He brought to ; the junior flag-officers repeated the signal ; and the
whole fleet brought to with the larboard tacks on board. The wind
was then so light as to be almost imperceptible, and the swell drove
the ships nearer and nearer to the island of Porquerolles. But at
3 P.M., when there was a nearly easterly breeze, Mathews signalled
for the line of battle abreast,- and then stretched with his division to
the south-west, Vice-Admiral Lestock stretching to the west, and
Eear-Admiral Eowley making all possible sail with a view to
extending the fleet and forming line of battle. Yet, towards evening,
most of the ships were still out of station ; Eowley's division was
scattered, and was far astern of Mathews's ; and neither Mathews's
nor Lestock's division was in line. The allies, on the contrary, were
in admirable order, at a distance of between four and five miles,
M. de Court being in the centre, M. Gabaret in the van, and
Don Jose Navarro in the rear.
Soon after nightfall, Mathews signalled to bring to, the most
windwardly ships to do so first and to lie by with their larboard
tacks on board. The fleet accordingh- brought to close to the alhes,
and, during the night, lay well in sight of them, the wind varying
in the eastern quarter. The Essex, 70, and Winchelsea, 20, were
told off to watch the enemy, and to signal intelligence as to any
movement on his part ; but these ships do not appear to have
observed that, after the moon had set, the allies made sail, and thus
' " When the fleet is sailing before the 'vvind, and the Admiral would have them
bring to with the starboard tacks on board, he vnQ. hoist a red flag at the flagstaff on
the mizzen-topmast head, and fire a gun ; if to bring to with the larboard tack, a blue
flag at the same place, and fire a gun ; and every ship is to answer with the same
signal." — ' Sailing Instruction,' ix.
^ Hoisting the Union and a pennant at the mizzen-peak, and firing a gun. —
' Fighting Inst.' ii.
1744.] TIIK DATTT.K OFF TOULON. 05
increased tlieir distances I'l-om (Ik; lii'itisli, \sli(), in the meantime, had
drifted between the enemy and Toulon, and lay with Cape Hide
about twelve miles to the N.N.W. At dawn, at least nine miles
intervened between the headmost and tiie sternmost ships ol'
Mathews's connnand ; and tlie vaiious divisions were not in close
order. Neither were the allies as well stationed as M. de Court
must have desired. Not more than six miles, however, represented
the extreme length of their line.
As soon as he realised how^ far he was from the Admiral, Lestock
oh his own responsibility made sail; but when, at 6.30 a.m.,
Mathews ordered the fleet as a whole to do the like, Lestock was
still five miles astern. M. de Court had already signalled for the
line of battle upon a wind ; and the allies at that time, now with
their topsails and now with their IViresails set, were stretching in
fairly good order to the southward. The British followed, but, says
Beatson : —
"As the leiir divi.siou was at su great a distance tVuiu fhe centre, and tiie vau not so
close as it should have been, the Admiral, at 7.30 a.m., made the signal for Rear-
Admiral Rowley and his division to make more sail — which signal the Vice-Admii-al
repeated ; and, soon after, the like signal was made for the Vice-Adniiral and his
division. At S a.m. the Admiral made the signal for the fleet to draw into a line of
battle, one ship abreast of the other, with a large wind ; and, half an lioin- after, he
made the signal for the fleet to draw into a line of battle, one ship ahead i>f another.
These signals were repeated by the junior flags."
Yet it took some time to form the line ; and, in the meanwhile,
M. de Court seemed inclined to avoid a general action, and to
endeavour to draw the British towards the Strait. Mathews divined
his opponent's intention to be either to escape altogether, or to
proceed without fighting until, reinforced by the squadron from
Brest, he should be in a condition to go into battle with superior
forces in his favour. Mathews was, of course, unwilling to allow-
either object to be attained ; and it was for that reason that, at
about 11.30 A.M., when, as has been hinted, the order of battle was
still very incompletely formed, the Admiral hoisted the signal to
engage.
The fleets which were about to be opposed one to anotlier were
constituted as follows ; — ^
' The lists are taken, with sliglit alterations, from those in Beatson and Schomberg,
and from the evidence in the courts-martial. It would appear, however, that some of
the Spanish ships practically formed part of the allied centre.
!»()
M A.J on OPERATIONS, 17U-J762.
[1744.
Sliips.
Commanders.
/ Stirling Castle .
Warttnck .
A'asmu .
liarjteur .
Princess Caroh'ni
Ite}~wick .
Chichester
Boyne.
Kingston .
Oxford. 50 .
Feversham, 40
Winchefsea, 20
/ Ih-agon .
Bedford .
Somerset .
Princesa .
Norfolfc .
Marlborough.
■S ( Dorsetshire .
JCssex ....
Jliqyert
Jiotjal Oalc .
Guernsey, 50 .
Salislmri/. 50 .
Durslei/ GaUi-ij,
Anve Galle;/ f.s.
Sutherland h.i
■' IS . , .
90 765
70 480 I Thomas Cooper.
60 400 Temple West.
"0 ,480 , James Lloy-l.
iRear-Adm. William Rowley,
(Merrick tie I'Aiigle.
SO 600 : Heury Osborii.
"0 4s(j Eiiwaril Hawke.
HU (iOO I William hilko-s.
80 6(tO I RoftiamI l-rogmnre.
CO 400 I John Lovet.
. . 300 I liord Hairy Powlett.
.. 250 j Ji)bn Watkin8(2).
.. !l25 William Marsh.
60 4U0
70 4.^0
80 600
74 550
80 600
90 780
80 (iOO
70 480
60 4UU
70 480
300
300
125
45
I Charles Watson.
i Hon. George Townshend.
I (Icorge Sclater.
I Iiol)eitPett.
j Hon. John Forbes.
lAdm. Tbomas Slalbews,
{ (B.).
, l.lobn Uussel.
.Fames (.'oniwaH.
, (icorge Burrish.
Riibard Norris.
.lolm Ambrose.
I Edmnnd Williams.
! Samuel Cornish.
Peter Osborn.
Giles Richard Vanbnigb.
— Mackie, (Com.).
/Alexander Lord Colville,
I I (Com.).
Dutihirl- .
Cambridgt .
Torbay . . .
Xeptune .
liassell
/itickinghaiu.
Elizabeth. . .
Jiereiige .
Nonsuch, 50 .
Bomne'/t 50
Diamond, 40 .
Mercury f.s., 8
60 400
80 600
80 600
90 770
80
Charles Wager Pnrvis.
Charles Drummoud.
John Gascoigne.
( Vice-Adm. R. Lestock, (W.).
(George Stepney.
600 ' Robert Long.
480 I John Towry.
480 I Joseph Lingen.
4'*0 ! George Berkeley.
300 Edmund Straage.
31)0 i Henry Godsalve.
250 James Hodsell.
45 I M. Peadle, (Com.).
Note. — The Burford, 70, Captain Richard Watkins,
several vessels not of the line, were absent from the fleet.
Ships.
lior^e .
Toulouse .
hue d'Orlf-ans
JSapyrance
Trid^.nt
Commanders.
esif M. Ue iJamaquart.
600
800 M. d'Orves.
820 >]. Cabaret (Chef d'Eec).
M. de Cavlus.
Alcion
54
500
11. de Vautlrcull.
A'luiUjn .
48
500
Kole . . .
64
650
11. d'AllK-rt.
AtalavU, 20
A firpshlp, «
Farietix ,
60
600
M. de Gravier.
Se'rieax . .
1 64
650
Fei-me . . .
74
800
M. de I)esorqua't-
TIgre . . .
50
550
M. de Sauriiis-Mnrat.
Terrible . .
74
850
Adm. de Court.
Saint Esprit .
74
SOU
Diamaitt . .
50
550
M. de Marrilart.
SoUde . . .
64
650
M. de Cbateauneuf.
Fltur. 20 .
Xeplii/r. 20.
A fireship, H
A fileship, »
Orietite . . . I 60 I 600
Amtrica . . . i Co ' 600
^'f^plu^lo ... 60 600
Podcr . . . . I 60 600
Constante. . . 70 , 750
BealFelijte . . ill4 1350
Sercult-S . . . C4 650
Alcitin- ... 58 600
BriUante . . . i hO 600
San Fernando . 64 650
Sobiero . . . I 60 600
Jsabela ... SO 900
lolage, 20 . .
A firesbip, 8 . , | |
1 A French officer. Captain Lage de Cueilli, also
exercised some executive authority on board.
- Some lists omit this vessel, and substitute for her the
Betiro, 54.
Dun M. de Vileiia.
I)on A. Petru'be.
Pon H. Olivares.
Don R. Errntia.
Don. A. Eturiago.
(Adm. Don Jose Navarro.
(Don N. Geraldine.i
I Ion C. Alvario.
Don J. Rentorin.
Don B. de la Barrida.
Conde de Vega Florida.
Don J. B. Castro.
Don I. Dntabil.
Captain Mahan's account of this action ^ is far too brief to be
of much vahie to the student. What he writes should, however,
be here quoted, since it describes in a few words the general
lines upon which the battle, such as it was, was fought. After
mentioning the issue of the allied fleets from the port of Toulon,
he continues : —
"The English fleet, which had been cruising oft' Hyeres in observation, chased, and
on the nth its van and centre came up with the allies ; but the rear division was then
several miles to windward and astern, quite out of supporting distance. The wind
was easterly, both fleets heading to the southward ; and the English had the weather-
' Infl. of Sea Power,' 265.
1711.] THE BATTLE OFF TOULON. 97
gage. Tiie numbers were nearly e([iial, the Knglisli having twenty-nine to tlie allied
twenty-seven ; ' but this advantage was reversed by the t'aihue (j1' the Eiiglish rear to
join. The course of the Kear-Adnnral lias been generally attributed to ill-will t(jwards
Mathews; for, although he proved that in liis separated position he made all sail to
join, he did not attack later on when he could, on the plea that the signal for the line
of battle was flying at the same tirne as the signal to engage; meaning that lie could
not leave the line to fight without disobeying the order to form line. This technical
excuse was, however, accepted by the subsequent court-martial. Under the actual
condition, Mathews, mortified and harassed by the inaction of his lieutenant, and
fearing that the enemy would escape if he delayed longer, made the signal to engage
when his own van was abreast the enemy's centre, and at once bore down himself
out of the line and attacked with his flagship of ninety guns the largest ship in the
enemy's line, the Eoyal Philip of one liundred and ten guns, carrying the flag of the
Spanish admiral. In doing this he was bravely supported by his next ahead and
astern. The moment of attack seems to have been judiciously chosen; five Spanish
ships had straggled far to the rear, leaving their admiral with the support only of his
next ahead and astern, w'hile three "^ other Spaniards continued on with the French.
The English van stood on, engaging the allied centre, while the allied van was without
antagonists. Being thus disengaged, the latter was desirous of tacking to windward of
the head of the English line, thus putting it between two fires, but was checked by
the intelligent action of the three leading English captains, who, disregarding the
signal to bear down, kept tlieir commanding position and stopped the enemy's attempts
to double. For this they were cashiered by the court-martial, but afterwards restored.
This circumspect but justifiable regard of signals was imitated without any justifica-
tion by all the English captains of the centre, save the Admiral's seconds already
mentioned, as v^ell as by some of those in the van, who kept up a cannonade at long
range while their Commander-in-Chief was closely and even furiously engaged. The
one marked exception was Captain Hawke, afterwards the distinguished admiral, who
imitated the example of his chief, and, after driving his first antagonist out of action,
quitted his place in the van, brought to close quarters a fine Spanish ship that had
kept at bay five other English ships, and took her — the only prize made that day.
The commander of the English van, with his seconds, also behaved with spirit and
came to close action. It is unnecessary to describe the battle further. . . ."
After having, at 11.30 a.m., hoisted the signal' to engage,
Mathews stood on, but overhauled the enemy only very gradually.
At 1 P.M., the Naviur was abreast of the Real Felipe, and the
Barjieur, of the Terrible. Half-an-hour later, the Namur bore
down within pistol-shot of the Bcal Felipe, and began to engage her
furiously, and the Barjieur presently did the same with the Terrible.
Lestock's division was still far astern, and to windward, and,
according to the evidence at the court-martial, could not have then
been up with the centre, unless Mathews had shortened sail and
waited for it.
' This statement seems to be a little misleading. According to the lists already
given, the British liad in line twenty-eight shi]js, and the allies the same number. But,
in addition, the British had five .50 and two 40-gun ships, for which the allies had no
equivalents. The guns in line on each side were : British, 2080 ; Allies, 1822.
2 Qy. " four."
^ This was repeated by liowley, but not hy Lestock, who was at a great distance.
VOL. III. H
iJ8
MA.IOn OPERATIONS, 1711-1702
[1741.
The Nainiir was well supported by the Mdrlbdrongli, which
attacked the I.sahi'hi,^ and by the Norfolk, which attacked the
ConsttDife. The Princesa, Bedford, Dragon, and Kingston fired into
the I'odcr, and the Nephino,^ America, and Oriente, after exchanging
rather distant broadsides with the same British ships, passed on
with tJio rear of the French part of the allied fleet. The remaining
Spanish ships were, at
first, considerably astern
of their station, but, as
the breeze freshened, they
came up, and, towards the
end of the action, assisted
the Real Felipe. Lestock
made some effort to pre-
vent this, but the wind
was still very hght with
him, and he was also im-
peded by the swell, so that,
although he had all sail
set, his efforts were vain.
The Barfleur^ got to
close quarters with the
Terrible, and was much
assisted by the Princess
Caroline*^ and the Ber-
tvick. The Chichester and
Boyne also threw in their
fire, but they were not
close enough to the enemy
to do much execution. As
for the leading ships of the van — the Stirling Castle, Warwick and
Nassau — they did not bear down to the enemy at all, although the
signal for- them to do so was flying. They chose to disregard it,
and to keep their wind, in order, as was afterwards explained or
suggested, to prevent the French froua doubling upon the head of
the British column.
' Tlie Isabela, which lost uearly three liuiKh'ed killed and wounded, had by that
time moved up to the position next astern of the Heal Felipe.
- The Ntptuno lost nearly two hundred killed and wounded.
^ The Barfieur had twenty-tive killed, and twentj- wounded.
■* The Priiicess Caroline had eight killed, and twentv wounded.
MATHEWS s ACTION OFF TOULON,
FEBRUARY llTH, 1744.
British. Maek : Freneh, icliite ; Spanish, sluidcd.
[Mathews's flagship, the Xamiir. is the centre one of tlie
three rearmost Britisli ships that are closely engaged.
Hawke's ship, the Beriinck, is the rearmost one of the
larger closely engaged gronp. She has already silenced
the Ptidcr, which lies head to wind astern of her.]
1744.]
THE BATTLE OFF TOULON.
99
The hottest part oi' the uclioii was, in the- uuiiuitiuu.', being
waged l)y the ships immediately about Mathews. The Norfolk ^
drove the Constante out of the hue, a shattered wreck, but was
herself too much damaged to pursue her. The Nainur and Marl-
borough were, at one moment, so close to one another that Mathews,
to avoid being fallen on board of by his eager second, was ol)liged to
fill his sails, and draw a little ahead. Tlie Ndiiuir was tlien scarcely
ADMIli.^L THOMAS MATHEWS.
(From T. Ftilwra nirinirin.i ii/Irr llir i«,iiniit h,i Arnidpht (1743).)
under control, owing to the rough handling which she had received,
and could give little help to the Marlburough, which, fought by her
captain, and afterwards by his nephew. Lieutenant Frederick
Cornwall, in the inost magnificent manner, was very sorely
pressed. None of the vessels immediately astern of her volunteered
to assist her in the least, but, keeping their wind, fired fruitlessly at
an enemy who was beyond the reach of their shot ; and, in spite of
Tlie NorfiiJk had nine killeil, and thirteen wounded.
H -1
100 MAJOR OPBllATIONS, 1714-1762. [1744.
the fact that the Spaniards Ijetrayed every desire to meet them in
the most handsome manner, few British captains properly took up
the challenge. The most brilliant exception was Captain Edward
Ilawke, of the Berwick, who, noticing how the Poder had vainly
endeavoured to draw on some of his reluctant colleagues, quitted his
station, and bore down upon her. His first broadside did her an
immense amount of damage, and, in twenty minutes, when she had
lost all her masts, she was glad to strike.
The Beal Felij}e ' was disabled, but the Spani.sh ships of the rear
were crowding up to her assistance, and Lestock remained afar off,
so that it looked as if the British strength about the Spanish admiral
would not suffice to compel her to haul down her colours. In these
circumstances, Mathews ordered the Anne Galley, fireship, to go
down and burn the Heal Felipe, and, seeing that the Marlborough'''
was in no condition to help herself, he further signalled for the boats
of the British centre to tow her out of the line.
The Anne Galley was handled with great ability and gallantry.
As she bore down on the Real Felijje she was received with a well-
directed fire from such guns as that crippled ship could bring to
bear, and with a more distant cannonade from the Spanish vessels
astern of the flagship. Commander Mackie, match in hand, stood
alone upon the deck of his little craft, ready to fire her at the proper
moment. Most of his crew were alongside in a boat, which was
waiting to take him on board. The rest, by his orders, had taken
shelter from the storm of shot that hurtled across the fireship. But
the Anne Galley, struck repeatedly between wind and water, was
already sinking. Moreover, a Spanish launch, crowded with men,
was approaching to board her, and tow her clear. Mackie felt that,
at all hazards, he must endeavoiTr to destroy the launch, and, in
spite of the fact that his decks were littered with loose powder, that
his hatches and scuttles were open, and that his funnels^ were
uncapped, he fired his waist guns at the boat. This was fatal.
The blast from the guns set fire to the loose powder ; and, while the
A)ine Galley was still too far from the Beal Felipe to seriously
damage her, she prematurely blew up, and then sank, carrying down
' Tlie Real Felipe bail about five bundred nun killed and wounded.
^ The Marlhorough lost Captain Cornwall, and forty-two men killed and one
bundred and twenty wounded.
^ Funnels: in a firesbip, tubes leading from the deck to the main body of explosives
in the hold.
1744.] THE /!ATTL;<; off TOULON. 101
Commandur Miickii!, a liuiiicMiiiiit, a luato, a gunner, and two
quartermasters.
In the meantime, M. do Court, wlm, owing to tlie confusion and
smoke, seems to have supposed that the Spaniards were much more
closely pressed than was actually the case, tacked to their assistance.
Eear-Admiral Rowley tacked too, and followed the allied centre.
Very soon afterwards, Mathews, to quote the words of Beatson —
" hauled down the signal to engage the enemy, and also the signal for the lino of
battle ; making the signal to give over chase ; but, at half-past five o'clock, he made
the signal for the fleet to draw into a line if battle ahead. There was then but little
wind, and so great a swell that the ships could only wear. The Admiral wore, and
formed the line of battle on the larboard tack. This last manoeuvre of the Admiral's
appears to have been made with a design to collect his fleet, draw them out of the
confusion they were in, and ari-auge them in a proper order for battle, which he had
every reason to think would be speedily renewed ; the French squadron being now at
hand, and in an e.xtremely well-formed line. They crowded, however, to the assistance
of the Spaniards. The Foder, prize, being dismasted, and being unable to follow the
British fleet when they wore, was retaken by the French squadron, she having on
board a lieutenant and twenty-three men belonging to the Berwick. The Dorsetshire,
Fssex, Rupert, and Boyal Oak, wearing at the time the Admiral did, brought them
nearer to the sternmost ships of the Spanish squadron, which had by this time joined
tlieir admiral in a close line. In passing each other, being on contrary tacks, a short
action took place, in which the Namur, Dunkirk, and (Jrtnhri'lye joined, but with
little execution on either side. Daylight was almost gone, and the British fleet passed
on, leaving the confederate fleet astern."
Owing to the condition of the Namur s ' masts, Mathews, at
about 8 P.M., shifted his flag from her to the Russell, and intimated
the fact of the change to Lestock and Eowley. On the morning of
the 12th, when the wind was E.N.E., the enemy was seen about
twelve miles to the S.W. At about 7 a.m., the Somerset, which
had become separated from her consorts in the night, fell in with,
and for half-an-hour engaged, the Hercules, which had likewise
straggled from her friends ; but, the Hercules being assisted by some
French ships, the Somerset had to draw off and rejoin her division.
At 9 A.M. Lestock ordered his squadron to chase to the S.W., and
crowded sail ahead of the fleet. At 11 p.m., Mathews signalled for
the fleet to draw into line of battle abreast, and then brought to on
the starboard tack in order to collect his command. In the after-
noon, the British fleet, in admirable order, was going down on flie
enemy, which was retreating in some confusion before the wind, the
Spaniards being ahead of, and to leeward of the French, and the
' The A»m»/' liad eight killed and twelve wounded. Among the latter was
Cniitain liussel, who lost his left arm, and wlio subsequently died at Port Mahou.
102 MAJOR Ol'Ji RATIONS, 1714-1762. [1744.
Heal Felipe still bearing Navarro's Hag, although she was in tow of
another vessel. As for the Poder, she fell so far astern that the
enemy fired her to prevent her from again falling into British hands ;
and, in the course of the following night, she blew up. But, in the
meantime, Mathews, at about 5.30 p.m. on the l'2th, had ordered his
fleet to bring to, there being no more than a light wind from the
N.E., and by 10 p.m. that night the enemy was out of sight.
On the 13th, Mathews again chased to the W. and W.S.W. ; but
at U A.M. he ordered the pursuit to be relinquished, his reasons, as
afterwards explained, being, that he saw no prospect of bringing the
allies to action ; that, if he had continued to follow them, he would
have been drawn towards the Strait's mouth, and would have left
Italy entirely unprotected ; and that, as his instructions were
stringent as to the protection of Italy, he was unwilling to risk
leaving the way clear for the transport thither of a large number of
troops which he had reason to believe had been collected for that
purpose in the ports of Spain. Yet it was unfortunate that the
Admiral did not persist. Had he pressed the chase, he must
inevitably either have picked up several of the crippled ships ^ of the
allies, or have obliged de Court and Navari'o to accept action on
disadvantageous terms in order to cover their lame ducks.
After having relinquished the chase, Mathews tried to beat back
in the face of strong contrary winds, but failed ; so, first showing
himself in Eosas Bay, with a view to letting the Spaniards know
that he was observing their motions, he ran for Port ]\lahon. Upon
reaching that harbour, he suspended Vice-Admiral Lestock, and sent
him to England.
Both in France and Spain, as well as in Great Britain, there
was great disgust at the result of the battle off Toulon. In France,
Admiral de Court, in consequence of Navarro's representations, was
superseded. De Court in a letter to the Bishop of Eennes, who
was then Ambassador from France to the Court of Madrid, said,
" It was not I, my lord, who forced M. Navarro to fight against all
laws of war and prudence ; it was not I who separated his ships
from him and drove him into danger ; but when he had taken so
much pains, after all I could do, to get himself beaten, it was I who
came to his assistance and gave him the opportunity to get away,
which otherwise he never could have had." De Court was at the
time an officer of nearly eighty years of age.
' Four, at least, and probably more, were sei'iously tlisablecl aloft.
1745.] THE COURTS-MAJiTUL. ID."!
In Great Britain, Lestock's nii\villin^'n(!ss to sit (]uictly under
his suspension led to a succession ol' courts-martial. These were
preceded by an enquiry by the House of Commons, which began on
March l'2th, 174.5, and lasted until tin- middle of April. The King
was then addressed to order a court-nuu-tial into the conduct of
Admiral Mathews, Vice-Admiral Lestock, the captains of a number
of ships, which had been engaged in the battle off Toulon, and the
lieutenants of the Dorsctaliiir. In his reply his Majesty said,
" I am sensible how much depends on preserving an exact
discipline in the fleet, and of the necessity there is of bringing
to justice such as have failed in their duty on this important
occasion." In the meantime, Mathews, in pursuance of orders
from England, had resigned his command and returned home,
leaving the fleet under the orders of Vice- Admiral William Eowley.
The court-martial first assembled on board the London at
Chatham on September '23rd, 1745, under the presidency of Sir
Chaloner Ogle (1), Kt., Admiral of the Blue. The officers brought
before it were the Heutenants of the Dorsetshire , who were charged
with having advised their Captain, BiuTish, not to bear down upon
the enemy. They were all acquitted. On September 25th Burrish's
trial began, and sentence was delivered on October 9th. The court
declared, " That by reason of Captain Burrish lying inactive for
half-an-hour when he might have assisted the Marlhorongh, and
not being in line with the Admiral when he first brought to, he is
guilty of a part of the charge exhibited against him, as he did not
do his utmost to burn, sink, or destroy the enemy, nor give the
proper assistance to the Marlborough till after the message he
received from the Admiral : that he is guilty on the 12th and
13th Articles of the Fighting Instructions, and that therefore the
court adjudge him to be cashiered and forever rendered incapable
of being an officer in his Majesty's Navy." Captain Edmund
Williams, of the lioijal Oak, was next tried on four charges. The
court found that Captain Williams had failed in his duty by not
being in line with the Admiral, and by keeping to the windward of
the line during the greater part of the action, and not within proper
distance to engage with any effect during the most part of the time
he was engaged : but, in regard of his long service and his eyesight
being very defective and other favourable considerations, the court
was unanimously of the opinion that all this greatly weighed in
mitigation of the punishment due, and therefore only adjudged
]U4 MAJOR OVKRATIONS, 1714-17G2. [1745.
him unfit to be employed any more at sea, Init recommended him
to the Lords Commissioners of tlie Admiralty to be continued
on half-pay according to his seniority. This recommendation their
Lordships corajjlied with.'
Captain John Ambrose, of the Rupert, was tried on October 18th.
In his case the court found that he had failed in his duty in not
engaging closer while he was engaged, when he had it in his power :
but in regard that both before and since the action he had borne
the character of a vigilant officer, and that his failure in action
seemed to have resulted from mistaken judgment, the court onl}'
sentenced him to be cashiered during His Majesty's pleasure, and
mulcted of one year's pay for the use of the Chest at Chatham. He
was presently restored to his rank, and was in 1750 superannuated
as a rear-admiral, dying in 1771. Captain William Dilkes, of the
Chichester, had to answer the charge of not bearing down and
engaging the enemy closer when he had it in his power so to do.
The court found the charge proven, and dismissed him from the
command of his ship, but he also was afterwards restored to his
rank, though relegated to the half -pay list.^ Captain Frogmore, of
the Boyne, who was to have been tried with these officers, had died
on November 8th, 1744, while still abroad.
At a rather earlier date. Captain Norris, of the Essex, who had
been accused by his own officers of bad behaviour during the battle,
had demanded and obtained a court-martial at Port Mahon, but, as
he had previously resigned his command and was on half-pay, the
court, after much debate, considered that it had no jurisdiction.
The account of the proceedings, and a strongly-worded protest from
the accusing officers, having been sent to England, the Admiralty
ordered Norris to come home to stand his trial ; but on his way he
seized the opportunity to abscond at Gibraltar, thus, it must be
feared, admitting his guilt. He died in deserved obscurity.
Vice-Admiral Lestock had brought charges of his own against
Captains Kobert Pett, George Sclater,^ Temple West, Thomas
Cooper, and James Lloyd. In consequence of his complaints of
their misconduct, these five captains were tried in due course. The
first two were acquitted, the last three cashiered ; but as the
offences of which the latter had been convicted did not reflect
' Eduniud Williams, wlio was a caiitain of 1734, subsequently became a super-
aunuated rear-admiral, and dit-d in 1752.
^ Captain Dilkes died in I75(j. ^ Or Slaughter.
1745.] LESTOOK ACQUITTED. 105
upnii tlieir professional honour or cajiacity, and as tlicir case was
considered a hard onc^, tlie ]vii),u at once restored them to their
former rank in the service. After an adjournment of the court,
the trial of Vice-Admiral Lestock himself began at Deptford on
board the Priiicr of Ontiif/e, and, Sir Chaloner Ogle being in ill-
health, Rear-Admiral Perry Mayne officiated as president. The
other flag-officer in attendance was Kear- Admiral the Hon. John
Byng, who, a few years later, was shot for his behaviour in the
action off Minorca. Lestock urged in his defence that he could
not have engaged without breaking the line, and that he was not
authorised to do this because, though the signal for engaging had
been made, that for the line-of-battle was still flying. He was
mianimously acquitted. The truth is, that he took shelter through-
out behind purely technical excuses, which availed hiin, although he
had acted in opposition to the spirit of his earlier correspondence
with Barnet, that a subordinate should go to the length of quitting
his station, even without orders, for the sake of joining and
supporting the main body of the fleet in action. In short, for
reasons of his own — and they are not hard to formulate — he chose
to forget his broad duty to his country, and his comrades in aims,
rather than depart from the narrow letter of his instructions.
During Lestock's trial a very remarkable occurrence happened.
On May 15th the president of the court was arrested by virtue of
a writ of capias, issued by Sir John Willes, Lord Chief Justice of
the Common Pleas, in consequence of a verdict which had been
obtained by Lieutenant George Frye, of the Marines, against
Sir Chaloner Ogle, Rear-Admiral Perry Mayne and others, for
false imprisonment and maltreatment in the West Indies, resulting
from an illegal sentence passed upon him by a court-martial.
The arrest of their president so incensed the members of the
court that, oblivious of the fact that the civil law must always
of necessity take precedence of the military, they passed resolutions
in which they spoke of the Lord Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas with violent disrespect. These resolutions they forwarded
to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, who laid them before
the King. His Majesty was somewhat hastily advised to express
his displeasure at the insult which had been offei"ed to the court-
martial ; but he, like the Lords Conmiissioners of the Admiralty,
had little idea of the great authority vested in the Lord Chief
Justice of the Connuon Pleas, who, as soon as he heard of the
106 MAJOR OPEIiATTONS, 1714-1762. [1745.
resolutions of the court-martial, promptly ordered each member
of it to be taken into custody. He was beginning to adopt further
measures to vindicate liis ofHce, when the episode was happily put
an end to by the submission of the offending officers.
The trial of Admiral Mathews began on June Kith, 174G, iiear-
Admiral Perry Mayne, as before, being president, and Rear-Admiral
the Hon. John Byng being of the court. Lestock exhibited fifteen
charges against his superior. Once more the advocates of a broader
interpretation of the instructions were defeated by the advocates
of the strict letter. It is perhaps well that in those days it was so,
for, for several years previously, naval discipline had been none too
good. Mathews, whose anxiety to do his best against the enemies
of his country cannot be denied, though his wisdom may be, heard
his fate on October 22nd, when the following sentence was passed
upon him : —
" The court having examined the witnesses produced, as well in supixjrt of the
charge as in behalf of the prisoner, and having thoroughly considered their evidence,
do unanimously resolve tliat it appears thereby that Thomas Mathews Esq., by divers
breaches of duty, was a principal cause of the miscarriage of his Majesty's fleet in the
Mediterranean in the month of February 1744, and that he falls under the 14th Article
of an Act of the 13th of Charles II., for establishing articles and orders for the better
government of his Majesty's Navy, sliips of war and forces by sea : and the court do
unanimously think fit to adjudge the said Thomas Mathews to be cashiered and
rendered incapable of any employ in his Majesty's service."
There is no question that, from a purely legal point of view,
Mathews deserved his punishment, but it is equally undoubted that
Lestock's conduct throughout was really far more reprehensible
than that of the superior officer. Mathews blundered, but his
intentions were good. Lestock clung tightly to the dead letter of
his duty ; but his intentions were contemptible, for, in effect, he said
to himself, " My superior is making a mess of this affair. I will
stick fast to my instructions and let him, and even the fleet and
country, go to ruin before I will strike a blow to help him. I shall
then be safe, and he, whom I happen to regard as my private enemy,
will pay the penalty." '
' The minutes of these courts-martial are enormously voluminous, and the
pamphlets called forth by the action off Toulon are extremely numerous. See
especially : ' A Partic. Account of the late Action ... by an officer in the Fleet,' 8vo,
1744 ; ' Captain Gascoigne's Answer,' etc., 8vo, 1746 ; ' Admiral Mathews's Hemarks
on the Evidence,' etc. ; ' Defence made by J. Ambrose,' etc., 8vo, 1745 ; ' Case of
Captain G. Burrish,' etc., Svo, 1747 ; ' A Narrative of the Proceedings of H.M. Fleet,'
etc., Svo, 1745 ; ' Vice-Admiral L — st — k's Account,' etc., 1745 ; ' Yice-Admiral
Lestock's Piecapitulation,' etc., 1745.
1744.] BALCIIEN'S J, A ST SEnVJ(JI<:. 107
Mathews, after tho fi^'ht oil' 'I'oiildii, liiul mlittod at Port Malioii,
and had then detached Captain UoWcrt Lonj,', with a small division,
to cruise off the Itahan coast and to intercept supplies for the
Spanish army there. Mathews himself put to sea as soon as
possible, and on June 14th, 1744, drove ashore and destroyed a
number of French transports near Marseilles. In fact he and his
cruisers were very active until his return to England in September.
His successor. Vice- Admiral Wilham Eowley, had many objects
which he was compelled to keep in view. He had to guard Italy
from the French and Spaniards, coming by way of the sea ; he had
to observe a French squadron from Brest, which lay at Cadiz ; lie
had to watch a French fleet at Toulon ; he had to keep his eye on the
Spanish squadron at Cartagena ; above all, he had to protect British
trade. At that time Admiral de Torres was expected in Spain with
a valuable convoy of treasure ships from Havana ; and on the other
hand, as has been mentioned, Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Hardy (1) had
gone southward with a convoy bound for Lisbon and Gibraltar.
The French and Spaniards, anxious to facilitate the safe arrival
of de Torres, and, if possible, to intercept Hardy, arranged that the
Toulon squadron should put to sea, and join with the Spanish at
Cartagena, and with the French at Cadiz. Admiral Gabaret,
therefore, left Toulon on September '20tli with sixteen sail of the
line and four frigates. Bowley, who was then at Minorca, with
only a part of his forces, did not hear of this till October 7th. He
at once put to sea in chase ; and, as soon as he realised that the
enemy's plan involved an attempt upon a division of Hardy's convoy,
which had reached Gibraltar, Rowley made for Spain. Although
he ultimately found the merchantmen safely under the liock, he
thereby managed to miss the enemy.
Hardy had sailed in April 1744, and, having sent his main convoy
into the Tagus, whence it was to proceed by divisions to points
further south, he returned, and re-anchored at St. Helen's on
May 20th. But scarcely had he quitted Lisbon when the transports
and store-ships, which he had left there, were blockaded in the
river by the French squadron, under M. de Kochambeau, from
Brest. As the stores were much needed by the Mediterranean fleet,
Admiral Sir John Balchen, with his flag in the Victory, and with
a considerable force, was detached from the Channel to relieve the
blockade. He sailed on July 28th, made several j)rizes, compelled
de Eochamheau to return to Cadiz, and then escorted to Gibraltar
108 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-17(i2. [1744.
that part oi' the convoy which was siibsequeiitiy found there by
Rowley.
Balchen returned; Init on October 3rd his command was over-
taken by a violent storm and was dispersed. Several ships were
much damaged and were at times in great danger ; but all of them,
except the Victory, safely reached Plymouth on October 10th.
The Victory, which was at that time considered the finest ship in
the world, had become separated from her consorts on October 4th,
and was never again seen. It is supposed that she struck on the
ridge of rocks called the Caskets, near the island of Alderney, seeing
that on the night l)etween the 4th and 5th of October the booming
of guns was heard, both by the people in charge of the Casket Light
and by the inhabitants of Alderney. The wind, however, was so
strong that no boat could venture in the direction whence the
sounds proceeded. The Victory's crew, including her Admiral,' her
Captain, Samuel Faulknor," her officers, and about fifty young
gentlemen volunteers, amounted to iipwards of one thousand souls,
all of whom perished. The loss of the ship was at that time
imputed to some defects in her construction, but it is probable that
this really had nothing to do with it, and that the disaster must
be attributed solely to the storm and thick weather which prevailed
at the time.
Owing to the situation of affairs with France, a small squadron
of four ships, imder Commodore Curtis Barnet, sent at the request
of the directors of the East India Company to the East Indies, had
sailed on May 5th, 1744, from Spithead. In January following,
after having taken measures to intercept home-coming French ships
from China, and after having disguised his own vessel, the Deptford,
60, Captain John Philhpson, and the Preston, 50, Captain the Earl
of Northesk (1), Barnet was so fortunate as to take in the Strait of
Banca the French Indiamen Dauphin, Herculr, and Jason, each of
30 guns.
The Commodore had not long left England when the successful
return of Commodore Anson suggested to the British Ministry that
it might be easy to capture the next treasure-ships bound from
Acapulco to Manilla ; and a despatch to that effect was sent to
Barnet by the Lively, 20, Captain Elliot Elhot. But the activity
' Sir John Balclien was then in his seventy-sixth year.
^ A captain of 1736, and a member of one of the most distinguished of British
naval families.
17-J4.] THE FltENCII IN NOIITII AMKRU'A. 109
and Uiroatcuiu^' attitude oi' tlio I'^rench in India prevented tlie
scheme from being carried out ; and, after his squadion had taken
a few other French ships, Barnet went to Madras and confined
himself mainly to observing and harassing the enemy in the Bay
of Bengal.
Vice-Adniiral Thomas Davers was sent with reinforcements to
Jamaica to relieve Sir Chaloner Ogle in 1744 ; but the French and
Spaniards were so strong on that station, and so many battleships
were carried home with him by Ogle, that Davers had to restrict
himself to the defensive. His cruisers, however, made several prizes
and the French failed in their only important enterprise, an attack
on Anguilla.
The war which broke out in 1744 was destined to have an
important influence on the fate of the British and French empires
in North America. At first the French there were very active, and
the British were extremely indifferent to their own interests. In
consequence of this, the French territories, which had been handed
over to Great Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht, were neglected and
were badly affected to the new government. They were, indeed, full
of active French sympathisers. The natural outcome was a scheme,
hatched by the French, to take advantage of the dissatisfaction,
and to deprive Great Britain of part at least of her new possessions.
M. de Quenel, who was then Governor of Cape Breton, fitted out
a small armament from Louisbourg and put it under the command
of Captain Duvivier. The native Indians gave, or at least promised
to give him some assistance. The armament made first for Canso,
where the French arrived on May 11th. They were joined by
two hundred Indians, and by many disaffected inhabitants. The
place was held by a company of the 40th Regiment, but, as it was
indefensible, it presently surrendered. The French demolished
such fortifications as existed, and set the place on fire. M. Duvivier,
who, in the meantime, had been reinforced by five hundred Indians,
proceeded with all his forces to Annapolis Eoyal. This important
position, like Canso, was in a very neglected state ; I)ut it was saved
by the activity and patriotism of the New Englanders.
Governor Shirley and the Assembly of Massachusetts, well
knowing the consequence of Nova Scotia to Great Britain, en-
couraged the raising in New England of a Iwdy of volunteers,
which, promptly dispatched to Annapolis, arrived before the French
made their appearance. When, therefore, M. Duvivier, who landed
110 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1745.
on June •2nd, smainoned the town, lie was informed that it would
1)0 defended to the last exti'emity ; and, although he made some
preparations for an assault, the strength of the defenders so deeply
impressed him that he finally returned to Louisbourg without
attempting anything further.
This activity of the French suggested to the Governor and
Assembly of New England a project for the conquest of Louisbourg,
which was then the chief French base in North America. A re-
quest was made to the home Government to the effect that, as the
necessary naval forces could be sent more quickly from the West
Indies than from England, Commodore Peter Warren might be
detached from the former station to co-operate with a colonial
expedition. To this the Government agreed, and orders were issued
accordingly. The Assembly of Massachusetts raised £27,000 for the
service. Troops were collected and confided to the command of
Mr. WiUiam Pepperel, of Kittery, Maine ; and, though no fewer
than 38-50 volunteers were assembled and sufficient transports and
stores for their accommodation were provided, all was done vpith so
great secrecy that the enemy seems to have suspected nothing. But
as this expedition did not sail till 17-4o, the histor}^ of its proceedings
must be for the present deferred.
While Great Britain was fully occupied with her foreign foes she
had to contend wath not less dangerous enemies at home, for France
in 1745, at a time when the greater part of the British army was on
the Continent, engaged in supporting the schemes of the House of
Austria, suddenly transported the Young Pretender to Scotland.
France did not believe that Prince Charles Edward would be
successful, nor did she ever mean to assist him very actively ; but
she realised that he might cause a most useful diversion. With a
slender retinue the Prince embarked at St. Nazaire on board a small
vessel, the Dentelle, which was lent him by a Mr. Walsh, who was
a merchant of Nantes but was of Irish extraction. He had arms for
about 2000 men and about £2000 in money, and he sailed on
July 7th. When off BeUe Isle he was joined by the Elisabeth, 64,
which had orders to escort Prince Charles Edward round Ireland to
the Hebrides. On July 9th, in lat. 47^ .57' N., the little expedition
was discovered by the Lion, 58, Captain Piercy Brett (1), which
immediately gave chase. At 5 o'clock the Lion ran alongside and
poured a broadside into the Elisabeth at short range. The two vessels
continued warmly engaged until 10 o'clock, when the Lion had
1745.] i''i!jyaj<: and tuk yovnq phetendf.r. Ill
suffered so severely in lier rigging tli:it slie was incapiil)ie of milking
sail. The Elisahetli, on the contrary, had suffered chiefly in her
luiU; and, although it is reported that several of her gun-ports were
knocked into one, she was able to get away. The smaller vessel at
the beginning of the action had endeavoured to assist her consort,
but had soon been beaten off by the Lion's stern-chasers; and,
when she saw that the Elisabeth had failed of success, she crowded
sail and made her escape. The Lion, whose complement was 440
men, lost 55 killed and 107 wounded, of whom seven ultimately
died. The French lost 65 killed and 186 dangerously wounded.
Prince Charles pursued his voyage and reached the coast of
Lochaber at the end of July. The Young Pretender, on landing,
was dissuaded by his best friends from pursuing his adventure ; but
he persisted, and they then gave way and joined him. For a time
he had some success, but he was too fond of pleasure to act with the
necessary energy, and presently the British Government began to
recover from its first amazement. A regular plan of defence was
elaborated. Admiral Edward Vernon (1),' with a squadron, was sent
' It shovild liere be inentioued that Vernon's ultimate disgrace arose out of this
appoiutmeut of his to the command in the Downs. He had with him but very few
ships, and in a letter of November 16th, 1745, to the Earl of Sandwich, he said : " It
must have made an odd appearance in the Bye of the World to have seen two Tlag-
Officers lye so long in the Downs with but one forty-gun ship lo form a line of battle
with." This paucity of command, condiined with the fact that he had no commission
as a ()ommandcr-in-Chief, was the origin of liis discontent. He was also irritated by
the conduct of the Admiralty which, in the same letter, he stigmatises in rather strong
language. Things came to a head when, on December 1st, Vernon wrote to the
Admirali}': "I have read, with great surprise, the long paragraph in j'our letter
informing me their Lordships don't approve of my having appointed a Gvmner to the
Poole when the necessity of the Service required it, and his Matie's Service must have
suffered for the want of it; and acquainting me, it is their Lordships' directions I
should withdraw the Warrants that I gave to them for his Majesty's Service. I must
say with concern, in answer to it, that I did not expect to have been treated in such a
contemptuous manner, and that 1 can hardly conceive it to be their directions till I see
it from under their hands in an Order for me to do it, and shall now entreat the favour
of their Lordships that, if they think it deserves an Order, they will please to direct it
to my Successor to put in Execution, as I must, in sucli case, intreat the favour of
their Lordships to procure me His Majesty's leave to quit a Command I have long
thought too contemptibly treated in regard to the rank I hold for His Majesty's honour
and service, and I should rather chuse to serve His Majesty in the capacity of a private
man in the Militia, than to permit the rank I hold in His Majesty's Service to be treated
w'ith contempt, which I conceive to be neither for our Royal Master's honour or Service.
A private Captain over two ships on any foreign service exercises the power of filling up
all vacancies mider him, and it is for his Matie's Service he should be empowered to do so.
When I attended the Regency, I was spoke to as a person of confidence that was tu have
had the Chief Command at home. Their Lordsliips' Orders of the 7th August seem'd to
design me for such, tho" that was speedily altered by those of tlie 14th, and I always
11- MA.JOlt OrEHATIONS, 17l4-17i;2. [1745.
to the Downs to watch the motions of the French at Dunquerque
and Calais, and he from time to time detached squadrons under the
command of Commodores Thomas Smith and Charles Knowles,
who intercepted many small vessels destined for the rebels. At the
su.spected there was something lujkiiig under tlic avoiding to call me Commander-in-
Chief anywhere, but only Admiral of tlie White, tho', at the same time, Letters had
]iassed thru" my hands, directed to Vice-Admiral Martin (whom, by my first orders, I
was lo take under my Command), stiling him Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's
Ships ill tlie Soundings. But your letter, Sir, has now explained the whole to me."
The controversy led the Admiralty to quote what it believed to be a ]>recedent for its
action, whereupon, in a letter of December (ith, Vernon wrote : "I am now come to the
last part of your letter in answer to mine of the first, and was ])leased to find you had
quoted the precedent of Sir John Nurris's case in the year 1740. Sir John Norris
thought it right to appoint two officers on a vacancy that happened under his command,
and, I dare answer for him, would not have thought it right ; but, as he judged it for
his Majesty's Service, and that his ]iredecessors had done it before him, and I don't
think anyone will say that Lord Orfurd, Sir George Kooke, Sir Clowdisley Shovell, Lord
Aylmer, Lord Berkeley, Lord Torrington, and Sir Charles Wager, have not done the
same. Sir John Norris thought it so much a right in him, that, when a pirson was
sent down by the Board to supersede a warrant granted by him, he sent the person
back with his warrant, and he was not received while he commanded, but when the
service was over, and he returned to town, their Lordships superseded him, so that his
acquiescence was necessity, not approbation. And I hope the haughty temper of the
noble Lord that presided at the Board at that time, will not be thought a fit precedent
to be followed by their Lordships." Again, on December 13th : " As to what I am so
politely acquainted with, that their Lordships have appointed a gunner to the Poole
after my liaving informed their Lordships that I had warranted the gunner of the
Sheeniess to that ship, I must acquaint you in answer — it was what I little expected — ■
and that I am determined to follow the example of Sir John Norris, and not permit that
indignity to be put on me while I remain in command here, but when he arrives, shall
civilly send him back again. That officer that don't pique himself on supporting his
own honour, and the dignity of the commis.sion he holds under his Majesty, may not
be the likeliest to defend the honour of his Prince and the Security of his Country
against the face of his enemies, and I will, therefore, never take the fatal step of
abandoning my own honour." And on December 14th : " A private Colonel in the
Army, who has no command but his regiment, shall be allowed to fill up most of the
vacancies for ensigns in his regiment, and the poor slighted admiral bearing his
Majesty's flag at main-topmast head, and in actual command, shall be denied the
filling up the low vacancy of a gunner ! " The only result of this condition of things
was Vernon's supersession, on December 26th. He was succeeded by Vice-Adm. Wm.
Martin (1). Immediately after his supersession, he engaged in controversial pamphlet-
eering, and, according to general belief, was responsible for two somewhat plain-spoken
pamphlets, respectively entitled, ' A Specimen of Naked Truth from a British Sailor,'
and 'Some Sensible Advice from a Common Sailor, to whom it might have Concerned,
for the Service of the Crown and Country.' He was summoned to the Admiralty to
deny the authorship of these productions, but as he did not choose to do so, he was
informed, on April 11th, 1746, that the King had been pleased to direct their Lordships
to strike his name from the list of flag-officers. Thus ended the service career of a
great and honourable officer, who owed his fall to his petulance and pugnacity. — Letter-
book in Author's Coll. ; the pamphlets above mentioned ; and ' Original Letters to an
Honest Sailor ' (published by Vernon after his dismissal from the service).
1745.] ESCAPE OF THE YOU NO PRETENDER. 113
Nore Captain the Hon. Edward Boscawen commanded : at Ply-
mouth, Captain Savage Mostyn. A further squadron cruised in the
Channel under Vice-Admiral William Martin (1) ; and Eear-Admiral
the Hon. John Byng went northward, and, by means of his cruisers,
greatly annoyed the rebels on the Scots coast.
The Young Pretender reached Derby, but then lost heart and
retreated to await reinforcements. In Scotland for a time he won
more successes, but the assured British command of the sea really
made his enterprise almost hopeless from the first ; for even his
private sympathisers in France could not aid liini with supplies,
such vessels as they dispatched being almost invariably snapped up
by British cruisers. Yet individual loyalty, after the disaster at
Culloden, saved the Prince from capture, in spite of the fact that
the Government had set a price of £'30,000 upon his head. He
reached the Hebrides, and, after suffering great distresses, was taken
on board a French privateer, the BcUoiic, on September '20th, 174(3.
This vessel had been sent on purpose from St. Malo by some of his
French friends. She reached Eoscoff, a small port in Brittany, on
September 29th, not, however, without having very narrowly
escaped captm'e by a British cruiser in the Channel. It is worth
mentioning that she was at least the third vessel which had been
sent to Scotland to rescue him. Two large French privateers, one
of 34 and the other of 32 guns, had anchored off the coast of
Lochaber in the previous April, with the object of picking up
fugitives from the rebel army. They had Ijeen there discovered by
Captain Thomas Noel of the Greijhound, 20 ; but, though he had
been joined by the Baltimore and Terror sloops, and had then
attacked them, they had succeeded in beating him off and in
carrying away several of the rebel chiefs.
The expedition against Louisbourg assembled at Boston, Massa-
chusetts, and the troops were there embarked, with all the necessary
stores, on board eighty transports. It was convoyed by eight
privateers of twenty guns, and ten small vessels ; and it sailed on
March 20th, 174.5, arriving at Canso on April 4th. This was
immediately after it had become known in New England that
Commodore Warren had received orders to co-operate in the iinder-
taking. The expedition reached Canso before the Commodore,
and Mr. Pepperel wisely employed his time in exercising and
drilling his troops. Meanwhile Mr. John Eons, master of the
Shirley Galley, the largest of the privateers, proceeded off the
VOL. III. I
114
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 17U-17G2.
[1745.
harbour of Louisbourg to intercept supplies intended for the place.
That he did so was fortunate, for the French Government, hearing
of the projected attack, had hastily despatched the Benommce, 32,
one of its fastest frigates, commanded by the celebrated Kersaint, ^
with dispatches for Louisboiu-g. On April 18th, she sighted Eous's
blockading squadron, which very pluckily attacked her and forced
■^ w-
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR PETER WARBEX, K.B.
(From a lilhograph bij BitUei/ H: the ' Xaval Clironick; 1804.)
her .to fly, greatly disabled. In her flight she encountered some
transports, which, escorted by a privateer, were on their way to join
Pepperel. These she attacked, but the privateer defended them so
well that once more she made sail and got awaj'. The Renommee
had finally to retmn to France without having effected her purpose.
Commodore Warren's squadron from the West Indies reached
' A biographical note concerning this gall.mt officer will be found on pp. 219, 220 of
the present volume.
1745.] CAPTUIil': OF LOUISBOURG. 115
Canso on April 22nd and 23rd, and consisted of His Majesty's ships
Superb, 60, Captain Thomas Somers, bearing the Commodore's broad
pennant; Eltham, 40, Captain Philip Durell (1) ; Launceston, 40,
Captain Warwick Cahuady ; and Mermaid, 40, Captain James
Douglas (1). In the course of the subsequent operations, it was
joined by several other vessels. Warren lost no time in landing
and in conferring with Mr. Pepperel. Returning on board, he sailed
again, and effectually blockaded the harbour of Louisl)ourg. The
troops at Canso were re-embarked on April 2'Jth, conveyed to Gabarus
Bay, near Louisbourg, and landed on the morning of the 30th. The
French garrison was discontented and mutinous, and its officers
were tyrannical and corrupt, so that M. do Chambon, the Governor,
feared to attack the invaders after they had indicted one small check
upon him. Thus, the expedition had leisure to establish itself
ashore and to rapidly become disciplined and formidable. In the
meantime, the Renommee had returned to France with the news
of what was going on, whereupon the French Government hastily
despatched the Vigilante, 64, with stores for the threatened fortress.
She was, however, intercepted and captured by Warren's squadron
on May 19th. A general attack by land and sea upon Louisbourg
was imminent, when on June 28th the place surrendered. The
British lost during the operations only 101 killed, while the French
loss was 300.
AVith Louisbourg fell the whole of Cape Breton. The conquest
was of immense importance. It not only destroyed a nest of French
privateers, but it also relieved the British fishermen on the banks
of Newfoundland from much dangerous rivalry. Moreover, it had
a great moral effect upon the Indians throughout North America.
Those who had taken part in it were fittingly and liberally rewarded.
Warren was promoted to be Eear-Admiral of the Blue, Governor
Shirley, of Massachusetts, was made a colonel, and Mr. William
Pepperel, besides also being made a colonel, was created a baronet of
Great Britain. Nor were the sailors neglected. The Hlnrlcij GuUeij
was purchased by the Government, and added to the Navy as a
post ship ; and her late master, Mr. John Rous, was presented with
a post-captain's commission and appointed to her. Finally, the
Colonists were reimbursed by Parliament for all the expenses which
they had incurred in connection with the expedition.
The despatch of Vice-Admiral Thomas Davers with reinforce-
ments to the West Indies has already been mentioned. Upon
I 2
116 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1745.
the French Ministry hearing of it, it also sent thither a strong
reinforcement, under the ChevaHer de Caylus, who arrived at
Martinique on March '28th, 1745. Xo sooner was the British
Ministry advised of its departure, than it ordered Vice-Adiuiral
WiUiam Eowley, then in command in the Mediterranean, to detach
to the West Indies a considerable division under Vice-Adniiral
Isaac Townsend (2), who left Gibraltar on August 2nd, and arrived
off Martinique on October 3rd. He fell in, on October 31st, with a
squadron of shi];)s of war and store ships, destined to further
reinforce the French ; and, chasing it, ultimately took or destroyed
upwards of thirty out of about forty sail.
In the Mediterranean, Vice-Admiral William Bowley blockaded
the Spaniards in Cartagena, while Kear-Admiral Henry Medley
watched the coasts of Italy and prevented supplies from reaching
the Spanish Ai-my there. Commodore Henry Osbom observed the
French Brest squadron, which lay at Cadiz. When Genoa threw
in her lot with the House of Bourbon, Commodore Thomas Cooper
was detached to bombard the ports of that Eepublic, and he caused
several of them to suffer very severely. The difficulties of Genoa
induced the Corsicans to make an effort to throw off the Genoese
yoke and to seek British and Sardinian assistance ; whereupon
Commodore Cooper went to Corsica, and on November 17th, 1745,
anchored off Bastia. The place was bombarded until the 19th,
when the ships rehnquished the attack, and withdrew, Cooper
despairing of the arrival of the promised Corsican assistance. But
his action was a little ]5remature ; for one of the rebel chiefs, the
Marchese de Kivarole, had already arrived, and, just after the
disappearance of the British, threatened the town with such good
effect, that the Chevalier de Mari, the representative of Genoese
authority, finding the defences untenable in consequence of the
damage that had already been received by them from the British
squadron, carried off his garrison by sea. A little later Commodore
Cooper sent to Corsica Captain the Hon. George Townshend, who
discovered that the Genoese held only a few towns, and that the
island was in a fair way of falling into the hands of the patriots.
The success at Louisbourg directed attention to the importance
of British interests in North America, and in 1746 suggested fresh
undertakings in that quarter. An attack on Quebec was projected,
and it was proposed to utilise for the purpose the colonial troops,
which had done so well at Cape Breton in the previous year,
1746.] THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA. 117
strengthening them of course by means of large detachments from
England. Preparations were made, and troops were assembled at
Portsmouth and even embarked ; but various causes detained the
fleet at Spithead until too late in the season, and the enterprise was,
for a time, abandoned. Kumours of the intentions of the Govern-
ment had, as was usual in those days, promptly reached the ears of
the French Ministry, which decided to retaliate for the threatened
British invasion of Canada by a descent upon Nova Scotia. In
pursuance of this determination a large force was sent across the
Atlantic under the Due d'Anville.
British public opinion had Ijeen much attracted l)y the Quebec
idea, and was greatly disgusted by the failure of the expedition to
sail. To pacify the people, it was hinted that the troops which
had been assembled were not to remain unemployed ; and, a
little later, as will be seen, they were directed upon the coast
of France.
The French fleet of eleven sail of the line and fifty-gun ships,
three frigates, three fireships and two bomb-vessels, under the Due
d'Anville, with transports and storeships containing 3500 troops,
sailed from Brest on June '2'2nd, 1746, and arrived off the coast of
Nova Scotia on September 10th. But on its passage it was much
damaged and weakened by a violent storm. Vice-Admiral Isaac
Townsend, who was then at Louisbourg, had with him an inferior
force, but had the advantage of assistance from New England, and
of a well fortified base. The sudden death of d'Anville depressed the
spirits of the French expedition, and although the enemy did land, he
soon decided not to prosecute the object for which he had crossed the
Atlantic. D'Anville's successor, M. Toiu'nel, a man of impetuous
temper, could not agree with the resolutions of the majority of his
officers ; and, considering that if he retreated he would be dis-
honoured, he solved his own difliculties by committing suicide, while
at the same time he complicated the confusion into which his un-
fortunate command had fallen. M. de La Jonquiere succeeded him ;
but by that time, owing to delay and neglect, the troops had been
almost exterminated by scurvy and by a small-pox epidemic. Some
succour was therefore sent to Quebec, and the rest of the expedition,
in a very bad case, returned to Europe. On the voyage several of
the vessels composing it were snapped up by British cruisers.
The troops which had been assembled at Portsmouth for the
undertaking against Quebec were, as has been said transported to
118 MAJOR OPEHAriONS, 1714-1702. [1746.
the coast of France. Commaud of thein had been given to Lieut. -
General the Hon. James St. Clair, chiefly for the reason that,
besides being an excellent officer, he had made a special study of
the military position in Canada. When the destination of the
expedition was altered, the command, perhaps unwisely, was not
changed. The fleet destined to convoy the army was -entrusted to
Admiral Bichard Lestock (B.) The idea of the Government was
that a descent upon the coast of Brittany might induce the French,
who were very powerful in Flanders, to detach part of the army
which was operating there under Marshal Saxe. But the affair
was wretchedly managed. The General had no special knowledge ;
the troops were unprepared for the service ; and no maps of the
country to be attacked were provided. St. Clair asked for a map of
Brittany, and the Government sent him, by express, a map of
Gascony. Nor had the coast been properly reconnoitred. It was
little known to any of the British naval officers of the time, and
the charts of those days were very indifferent.
Lestock detached Commodore Thomas Cotes to look in at Port
Louis and neighbouring places, and to find some convenient spot
for landing near Lorient. With the main body of the fleet he
himself sailed from St. Helen's on August .5th, but did not clear
the coast of England until September 14th, nor reach that of France
till September 19th, when Cotes rejoined him. A landing was in
time effected, and the troops began to advance upon Lorient ; but
the country was a close one, and greatly facilitated the guerilla
operations of the French. Lorient, nevertheless, appeared to be
disposed to treat ; and it would no doubt have surrendered to the
British commander if he had been inclined to deal leniently. Yet
as he would accept all or nothing, the place sturdily prepared to
defend itself. The siege was begun in a partial and ineffectual way ;
but so many necessary supplies were wanting that progress was
very slow, and, though the sailors from the fleet co-operated with
marvellous energy, the enterprise was at last concluded to be
impracticable and the troops were re-embarked, very sickly from
the consequences of exposure, on September 30th. At a council of
war the project of a landing in Quiberon Bay was discussed and
rejected, but on October 1st, Lestock received so favourable a report
from Captain Thomas Lake of the Exeter, of the anchorage there,
that he and General St. Clair decided, in spite of the resolutions of
the council of war, to proceed and there await reinforcements from
ITir..] LA JWURDONNAIS TO INDIA. 119
England, meanwhile harassing the enemy whenever possible. The
fleet sailed, and some troops were landed and works erected ; but,
after hesitation and paltering, the forces were re-embarked. Mean-
time the isles of Houat and Hoedic had been reduced and the
fortifications upon them destroyed. The troops were ultimately
sent under convoy to Ireland, and Lestock, with the bulk of the
fleet, returned to England. No glory was won, but the expedition
partially attained its original object, for orders were actually sent to
Marshal 8axe from Paris, directing him to despatch troops to
Brittany. These did not, however, reach him until he had so well
established his position in Flanders as to be well able to afford to
weaken himself.
At the time of the commencement of the active alliance between
the French and Spaniards, M. La Bourdonnais, governor of the Isle
of France, happened to be at Versailles. He was a most far-sighted
administrator and capable soldier, and, had his advice been followed,
the fate of India might have been very different from what it has
been. He advised his Government to send a strong squadron to the
Indian seas, so as to be ready for all eventualities. A squadron of
five sail of the line was accordingly collected, and command of it
was entrusted to La Bourdonnais himself. He was given great
powers over the officers of the French East India Company in
India ; and the Company became anxious concerning its rights and
privileges as soon as he had sailed. The directors persuaded the
French Ministry that hostihties in India were not likely, and that,
the representatives of the two countries there being exclusively
traders, it was unwise in the highest degree to provoke ill-will where
neutrality would, in all probability, be observed if no aggressive
measures were taken. The squadron was accordingly recalled ; but
La Bourdonnais himself proceeded, and, with the slender resources
he possessed, he assembled a motley squadron, which included only
one king's ship, the Achille, 70. With her and seven other vessels,
armed merchantmen, he sailed for the coast of Coromandel.
Commodore Curtis Barnet, who had gone to Madras in the
beginning of 1746, would have been a worthy opponent even for so
great a man as La Bourdonnais ; and he was preparing to take
active measures against the French, when, on April 29th, he died.
His successor, Commodore Edward Peyton, was apparently a less
energetic and capable officer. He was cruising between Fort St.
David and Negapatam when, on June '2.5th, he sighted the French
120
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-17G'-'.
[1746.
squadron.' M. La Bourdounais, though conscious that his ships in
strength of aiinament and in discipHne were very inferior to the
British, decided to utilise the only superiority which he possessed,
the superiority in men, and to attempt to board. During the earher
part of the day there was little breeze ; and Peyton, who probably
grasped the idea of the French admiral, kept as near the wind
as possible, so that the two fleets were unable to come to close
action. Not until four in the afternoon did they begin to engage ;
and even then the firing was maintained at such a distance that
little damage was done to either side. Peyton might have an-
nihilated his foe had he ventured sufficiently close to take full
advantage of the stouter scantling of his ships, and of the heavier
guns which they carried. But he did not attack \\ith dash ; and at
dusk the action ceased, the British having lost fourteen men killed
and forty-six wounded, and the enemy twenty-seven killed and fifty-
three wounded. The Biitish vessel which suffered chiefly was the
Medway's Prize. On the other side, the Insula ire was so badly
mauled that, immediately after the action. La Bourdonnais had to
order her away to repair. Peyton's behaviour gave great umbrage
to the East India Company ; but no one ever brought any specific
charge against the commodore. Commodore Thomas Griffin (1)
afterwards superseded him, put him under arrest, and sent him
home ; but the matter went no further.
' Squadrons of Cojimoiiore Peytox and M. La Bourdoxnais ix
THE Actios of June 2.jtu, 17-iG.
Ships.
BHmsH.
Commanders.
Medway
Preston .
Winchester .
Harwich
Medway^ s Prize
Lively ,
60
50
50
50
40 i
20 ll
270
Commod. Edward Pevtou.
Cajit. Henr.v Ru.sewell.
„ George, Earl of Xortliesk.
„ Lord Thomas Bertie.
„ Philip Carteret (1).
Thomas Griffin (2), actg.
Nathaniel Stephens.,
acts.
.Ships.
Guns 1 o „
Achille
74
Due d: Orleans 56
Bourhon .
56
Neptune .
54
Phenix .
54
St. Louis .
44
Lys . .
40
Tnsulaire
30
60
26
36
34
34
30
34
28
282
Some French, accounts mention another armed vessel, the Renomiaee, 28, as ha\'ing
been with La Bourdonnais, in addition to the ships named above. The British official
account also mentions a ninth ship, name unknown, mounting, however, 20 guns only.
All tlie French ships, however, except the Achille, were merely improvised men-of-war,
and were, in that respect, greatly inferior to the British.
1746.] PEYTON'S INEFFICIENCY. 121
The activity of La Bourdonnais was hampered by the jealousy
of M. Dupleix, Governor in India for tiie French East India
Company. Dissensions continually arose owing to the natural
complications of authority ; and the naval commander could obtain
.scarcely any help from the civil one. La Bourdonnais, neverthe-
less, made shift to refit, and on July 24th sailed again from
Pondicherry and worked to the southward. On August 6th he
sighted the British squadron, which was returning from Trincomale,
where it had refitted. Peyton avoided action, and, after three days
of futile manoeuvres, made sail and disappeared. This conduct
encouraged La Bourdonnais to plan an attack upon Madras. He
was taken ill and had to remain at Pondicherry ; but his squadron
appeared before the place on August 15th ^ and bombarded it. The
guns, however, produced little effect upon the town ; nor did the
French succeed in an attempt to capture the Princess Mary, East
Indiaman, which lay in the road.
One of the objects of the British squadron in the East Indies
was of course to be a protection to British settlements and British
trade; yet it did not proceed to the succoiir of Madras. Peyton,
lying in Pulicat Eoad, thirty miles to the northward, heard, on
August 2.5th, of what had happened in the previous week ; but,
instead of going to the rescue of the threatened town, he went
to Bengal, his excuse being that the Medway's Prize was very leaky
and needed repairs. La Bourdonnais was thus induced to proceed.
On September 3rd his squadron disembarked troops, and on the
7th a bombardment of Madras by land and sea was begun. On
the 10th the place capitulated, upon the understanding that it
should subsequently be ransomed. On September 27th, while still
before Madras, La Bourdonnais was reinforced by three ships of
the line from Europe, the Centaure, 74, Mars, 56, and Brillant, 50.
His operations were still hampered by the interference of Dupleix ;
but, on October 1st, he was able to send ofJ two of his vessels with
booty, etc., to Pondicherry. It was fortunate that he did so, for
otherwise he would probably have lost almost all his squadron. On
the night of October 2nd there was a great storm ; and, in the course
of it, the Due d'OrJeans, Phenix, and Lys foundered, and about
twelve hundred men were lost with them. Two prizes, the Mermaid
and the Advice, shared the same fate, and the flagship, AchiUe, and
' An account issued by the Hon. E. I. C. says that the enemy appeared at Madras
on August 10th.
122 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1746.
two other vessels were dismasted. In fact, every craft in the road-
stead either sank or suffered most severely.
In regard to the promised ransom of the town, La Bourdonnais
behaved throughout like a man of honour ; but Dupleix seems
never to have intended that the conditio as should be carried out ;
and when La Bourdonnais had gone to Mauritius, on his way home
to France, Dupleix, to the astonishment of many even of his own
officers, caused the treaty to be declared void. The arrival of
Commodore Thomas Griffin (1) fi'om England soon afterwards, com-
pelled the French to desist from a projected attack on Fort St.
David, and to withdraw nearly all their forces to Pondicherrj-.
On the Leeward Islands' station, Vice-Admiral Isaac Townsend
commanded at the beginning of 1746 ; but very early in the year
he was ordered to proceed with the greater part of his squadron
to Louisbourg. He sailed from St. Kitt's in Januarj', and, on his
way, met with so violent a storm that all his ships except two,
the Princesa and Ipswich, were obliged to return, and those two,
ten-ibly disabled, had to bear away for England. The Ipswich,
which reached Pljrmouth on April '22nd, was only saved by a
most In'illiant display of seamanship, after her crew had suffered
great hardships.
When Vice-Admiral Townsend had refitted, he again sailed for
Louisbourg, leaving Commodore the Hon. Fitzroy Henry Lee in
command in the West Indies. Lee was ultimately superseded by
Commodore the Hon. Edward Legge. Both Lee and Legge were
uufortmaate in their attempts to intercept French convoys, several
of which, under the care of M. de Conflans, escaped them. On
one occasion, as will be seen, Conflans would have come off badly
but for the cowardice of Commodore Cornehus Mitchell. On
another occasion, he fell in \\ith the British Leeward Islands'
convoy, escorted by the Severn, 50, Captain William Lisle, and
the Woolwich, 50, Captain Joseph Lingen. Lisle, who was the
senior officer, ordered the convoy to disperse and each vessel to
shift for herself. Conflans, in the Terrible, 74, with another ship
of the hne, chased him, and after three hours' action, obhged the
Severn to strike ; but the Woolwich got away, and none of the
convoy were taken. Lisle's action was considered so creditable
that, after his exchange, he was at once given the command of
a larger ship, the Vigilant, 64.
At Jamaica, Vice-Admiral Davers commanded until his death ;
174f;.] MITCHELL'S INEFFICIENCY. 123
but, being very ill \\illi gout, had to depute Captain Cornelius
Mitchell to go in search of M. do Conflaus, who was expected with
a convoy of ninety merchantmen at Cape Fran<,'ois. Mitchell had
four sail of the line, a frigate, and a sloop ^; Conflans had l)ut four
vessels in all"; and Mitchell's superiority, though small, should,
perhaps, have sufficed. Mitchell sighted the convoy on August 8rd
off Cape St. Nicolas ; but, as promptly as possible, he ordered his
ships to close, and held a council of war. It was thereupon resolved
to wait till daylight before bearing down upon the enemy ; but, on
the following morning, Mitchell was so backward in bringing on
an engagement, in spite of the evident willingness of Conflans, that
at 4 P.M. the squadrons had not exchanged a shot. At that hour
everything was in his favour, and the breeze was fair ; but he
hauled to the wind and shortened sail. The enemy, after he had
recovered from his astonishment, gave chase ; and his headmost
ship overhaiiled the Lenox, 64, at about 8 p.m., and fought her,
without result, for an hour and a half. Mitchell that night ordered
his ships to proceed without lights, and laid his course for Jamaica,
where, on October 16th, owing to the death of A^ice-Admiral Davers,
the command devolved upon hnu. His behaviour having been
represented to the Admiralty, he was siiperseded, and was tried
at Jamaica by court-martial on January '28th following. The court
convicted him of cowardice and neglect of duty ; but less severe
than many of the naval courts of that period, sentenced him only
to be mulcted of five years' pay, adjudging him at the same time
to be incapable of again serving in the Navy.
In the Mediterranean during 1746 a large fleet, under Vice-
Admiral Henry Medley and Eear-Admiral the Hon. John Byng,
offered much assistance to the Austrians and their allies, and co-
operated with success with the army which, under General Browne,
crossed the Var on December 1st. A detachment of small vessels
under Captain Hugh Forbes, of the Phceuix, 20, and Commander
William Martin (2), of the Terrible, 6, lent valuable aid to the
troops. Medley also blockaded Antibes, assisted in the capture of
Ste. Marguerite, and lent help to the insurgents in Corsica.
The year 1747 was upon the whole very successful for Great
Straffurd, 60, Capt. Cornelius Mitchell ; Lenox, 64, Capt. Peter Lawrence ;
Plymouth, 60, Capt. Digby Dent (2) ; Worcester, 60, Capt. Thomas Andrews (2) ;
Milford, 44, Capt. Edward Rich ; and Drake, 14, Commander Edward Clark (1).
- Terrible, 74; Niptune, 74; Alcion, 50; and Oloire, 40.
124 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 17U-1762. [l7-!7.
Britain, although it witnessed some check to the cause of Britain's
aUies in the Mediterranean. The Austrians were obliged, by
Marshal Belleisle, to recross thje Var; and the Genoese succeeded
in defeating the patriots in Corsica, and in driving them to the
interior of the island. On the other hand, Vice-Admiral Medlej^
not only maintained the blockade of Cartagena, but also intercepted
a French expedition from Toulon to Genoa. Medley died in Vado
Bay on August 5th, when Eear-Admiral the Hon. John Byng
succeeded to the command.
In the East Indies, Bear-Admiral Thomas Griffin kept M.
Dupleix on the defensive, and, at Madras, took and burnt the
Nej^tune, 34, which had been left there by M. La Bom-donnais.
At Jamaica, Captain Digby Dent (2) commanded until the amval of
Eear-Admiral Charles Knowles. On the Leeward Islands' station,
Commodore the Hon. Edward Legge commanded until his death
on September 9th, 1747, and was succeeded by Captain George
Pocock. On each of these stations the cruisers were successful as
well as active, but all the great naval transactions of the year
happened on the Atlantic coasts of Europe.
France fitted out two considerable squadrons ; one under the
Marquis de La Jonquiere, intended for the recoveiy of Cape Breton,
and the other under M. Grou de St. Georges, of the French East
India Company's service, for co-operation in the conquest of British
settlements on the coast of Coromandel. It was arranged that, in
order the more surely to escape the dangers presented by British
naval superiority in the home seas, the two squadrons should depart
from France together and proceed for some distance in company.
The projects of the French were known in England ; and a
squadron, under Vice-Admiral George Anson and Eear-Admiral Peter
Warren, was specially fitted out to checkmate them. The forces
which were ultimately opposed one to the other are set forth in the
note^ (p. 12.5). The French had with them a convoj', which brought
the total number of their sail up to thirty-eight. M. de St. Georges
left Groix in March, but, after suffering some losses from British
cruisers and from very bad weather, had to put into the road of
Isle d'Aix. La Jonquiere there joined him and the two finally sailed
on April 29th. Anson and "Warren had left England on April 9th
and had proceeded off Cape Finisterre, where, on May 3rd, the Cape
bearing S.E., distant twent.v-foin leagues, they sighted the French.
La Jonquiere thereupon caused twelve of his best ships to shorten
1747.]
ANSON AND HE LA JONQUlkUE.
125
sail and form a line of hattU; ahead, while the rest stretched to the
westward and crowded every possible stitch of canvas. Anson also
made signal for a line of battle, believing apparently that he was in
the presence of a more fonnidable squadron than was really before
him ; but, at Warren's instance, he substituted the signal for a
general chase. La Jonquiere was but ill-supported. Several of the
French East India ships, especially the Vigilant and Modeste, and
later the Thetis and ApoUun, looked to nothing but the idea of saving
themselves. It is useless to examine the tactical details of an action
of this kind. Suffice to say, that, after a running fight lasting from
4 to 7 P.M., in which several of the French captains behaved with
great courage and others conducted themselves with equal cowardice,
all the ships which had remained in the French line struck. At
7 P.M. Anson brought to, and detached the Monmouth, Yarmouth
and Nottingham in pursuit of the convoy, which then bore W. by
S.W., distant about five leagues, and which had been followed and
observed during the action by the Falcon. These ships captured the
Vigilant, the Modeste and the Dartmouth, once a British privateer,
together with six of the convoy. Night saved the rest.
' Action between Vice-Admiral Anson and M. de La Jonquieke,
May 3rd, 1747.
The account of the action, as well as the following list, is based upon the British and
French dispatches, and especially upon the papers of La Jonquiere in the Archives
de la Marine, and upon the rejiort of La Galernerie.
Hiarisn.
Fj.lCN
11.
Ships.
Guns.
Commanders.
Ships.
Guns.
Commanders.
iVice-Admiral George
Diantant- . . .
30
Capt. de Hocquart.
Prince Gmrge . .
90
} Anson.
Philibert'S . .
30
„ Larr.
(Oapt. John Bentley.
Vigilant ■'2. . .
20
„ Vauueulon.
1 Rear- Admiral Peter
{ Warren.
Chimene 3 . . .
30
.'
Devonshire'^ . .
66
nuUs "- (en fli'it") .
52
„ Macarty.
leapt. Temple West.
Jason- ....
50
„ Beccait.
Namur^. . . .
74
f „ Hon. Edward Bos-
t cawen.
Serieux - . . .
64
( M. de La Jonquiere, Capt,
( d'Aubigny.
M&nmoilth .
64
,, Henry Harrison.
Invincible- . . .
V4
Capt. Grou de St. Georges.
Prince Prederiik .
64
„ Harry Nnrris.
Apollon'3 . . .
30
„ No81.
Tarmouth l
64
„ Piercy Brett (1).
Thetis^' . . .
22
„ Massou.
Princess Louisa .
60
,, Charles Watson.
Modeste^' . . .
IS
„ Thiercelin.
Nottingham . .
60
,, Philip de .^umarez.
Gloirc^ ....
40
,, de Saliez.
Defiance I . . .
611
,, IhuniasGrenville.
Pembroke^ . . .
60
,, Thomas Fincher.
Emeraude* . . .
40
f ,, de la Jonquiere de
I TafTauel.
Windsor I . . .
60
„ TlioniasHanway.
Centurion l . . .
50
,. Peter Denis.
J Dartmouth-* . .
18
?
Falkland . . .
50
( „ Bloomfleld Barra-
( dell.
/Iristoli . . .
50
; „ Hon. William
( Montagii.
Ambuscade . . .
40
,, John Montagu.
1-alcon ....
10
/Commander Richard
I Gwynn.
Vulcan (flreship) .
8
(Commander William
1, Pettigrew.
1 I'bese ships only were engageil.
- Taken.
3 These ships beloDged to the Freuch East India Company.
4 With the convoy but not in line of battle.
126 MAJUn OFERATIoys, 17U-17(i'_>. [1747.
The battle, considering its nature, was a costly one. The French
lost about 700 killed and wounded, and the British, .520. Among the
French officers killed was Captain de Sahez, and among those
wounded were La Jouquiere himself and d'Aubiguy, his flag captain.
On the British side Captain Thomas Grenville, of the Defiance,
was killed, and Captain Boscaweu, of the Namtir, wounded. The
victors found specie to the value of i;800,000 on board the prizes.
For this service Anson was created a peer, and Warren, a K.B. All
the men-of-war taken, and also the East Indiaman Thetis, were
purchased into the Koyal Navy. The name of the Serieux was
changed to Intrepid, and that of the Diamant to Isis.
The victory was valuable if not exactly brilliant. Commenting
upon it, and upon the other great action of the year. Captain Mahan
says :
"Two encounters between Englisli and French .squadrons happened during the year
1747, completing the destruction of the French fighting navy. In both cases the
EngHsh were decidedly su]ierior, and though there was given opjrartunity for some
brilliant fighting by particular captains, and for the displa}- of heroic endurance on the
jiart of the French, greatly outnumbered, but resisting to the last, only one tactical
lesson is afforded. This lesson is that, when the enemy, either as the result of battle,
(.jr from original inequality, is greatly inferior in force, obliged to fly without standing
on the order of his flying, the regard otherwise due to order must be, in a measure at
least, dismissed, and a general chase ordered." . ..." In both cases, the signal was
made for a general chase, and the action which resulted was a mi'Ue. There was no
opportunity for anything else; the one thing necessary was to overtake the running
enemy, and that could only certainly be done by letting the fastest or best-situated
ships get ahead, sure that the speed of the fattest pursuers is better than that of the
slowest of the imrsued, and that, therefore, either the latter must be abandoned, or the
whole force brought to bay."
It would appear that in 1747 the Admiralty had begun to be
better served by its intelligence officers than it had been earlier in
the war ; and it is not the least merit of the administration that, on
several important occasions, it was able to bring superior forces to
bear upon its enemies. Anson's success was one result of this fore-
knowledge ; the success of Captain Thomas Fox, to be noted in the
next chapter, was another ; that of Kear-Admiral Edward Hawke,
now to be recounted, was a third.
Information was received in England that France w^as collecting
in Basque Eoad a huge convoy for the West Indies, and that a
squadron of men-of-war had sailed from Brest to pick it up and
escort it to its destination. Thereupon a squadron, under Hawke,
was despatched from Plymouth to intercept it. It left Plymouth
Sound on August 9th. The French left Isle d'Aix on October 6th ;
1747.]
HAWKE AND DE VETENDUERE.
127
and, on October 14tb at 7 a.m., were sighted in lat. 47" 49' N. and
long. 1° 2' W., off Finisterre. Hawiie made signal to chase, but at
8 A.M., seeing the enemy's ships to be very numerous, many of tliem
being large, he, as a measure of prudence, formed a line of battle
OOMMEMUKATIVE MEU.\L OF ANSON's VICTUHY, 1|47, AN]l OF HIS
CIRCDMNAVIGATION OF THE WORLD, 1740-44.
(From an vriijiintl kinilbj lent hij II.S.H. Caiitnin Pr'uiee Luui.i uf BiiUeiiierg, R.X.)
ahead.' There were in fact no fewer than 252 merchantmen with
the French squadron. Commodore de I'Etenduere, who at first
mistook the British for part of his own convoy, no sooner discovered
his mistake than he ordered the merchantmen to make the best of
their way under the care of the Coiiteiif, 64, and himself also formed
a line of battle ahead. These manreuvres informed Hawke as to
' Action between Eeak-Aumiral Hawke and M. de i/Etenduere,
October 14Tir, 1747.
Ships.
Devonshire .
K'-nt . . .
Edinbinyh .
Yaniiontk .
Mmviitoath .
Princess Louisa
Windsor.
Lion .
Tilhnrij .
jyottintfkam
Jh'Jiance
Eagle . ,
Gloucester .
Portland
I Guns.
Commauders.
60
liu
6U
so
50
{Rear-Admiral Edward
Hanke.
Capt. John Moore (1).
,, Thomas Fox.
,, '1'bitiii.is Cotes.
,. I 'balit'^ Saunders.
,, H'lity Ilanisou.
„ I'liaiie^ ^\'at>ou.
,, Thomas Hallway.
„ Atthiir Soitl.
,, Kol:iertHarlaud(2).
,. PhiHp df Sauniarez.
„ Johu iJeutley.
i ,, George Brydges
\ Rodney.
„ Philii) ImreU(l).
,, Charles Stevens.
and some frigates.
Fkench.
Ships.
Guns.
Comniuuilers.
pi. des Herbiers de
Timnant. . . .
80
1 rEtemiuere, Oief
) d'Escadre.
(Capt. DucbaBFault.
Intn'pide . . .
74
,, de Yaudieuil.
TridentK . - .
64
„ d'Arablimont.
Terrible i , . .
(4
„ du Guay.
Monarqut i . . .
74
,, de La iJedovere.
Stvin-n 1 . . . .
56
,, du llouvet.
Fougueux i . . .
64
„ de Vig;uault.
Neptune i . . .
74
„ de Fromeuiieres.
Castor'i ....
26
„ d'Ossonviile.
i'ontenfi . . .
1)4
- AVith the couvoy.
128 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1747.
the nature of the force before him, and induced him to haul down
the signal for the line and to again make that for a general chase,
following it half-an-hour later with the signal to engage. A running
fight resulted. The French behaved with great spirit but were over-
powered by sheer weight of numbers. They had in line but eight
ships and of these six were taken. Towards night the Intrepide and
Tonnant, finding that the day was lost, set all sail with a view
to escaping. Their intention was perceived by the Yarmouth,
Nottingham and Eagle, which, at the instance of Captain Saunders
of the Yarmouth, and on their own responsibility, followed. These
ships engaged the fugitives for an hour, in the course of which
Captain Saumarez ' of the Nottingham fell. The two French ships,
.though very badly damaged, succeeded in getting into Brest. At
dark Hawke brought his ships to ; and in the morning, at a council
of war, it was decided, in view of the mauled condition of the British
squadron, not to pursue the convoy. The Weazel, sloop, was,
however, despatched to the West Indies, to apprise Commodore
Pocock of the approach of the French ; and thanks to this precaution,
many of their ships were ultimately taken. -
The French loss in the action was about 800 killed and w^ounded,
among the former being Captain de Fromentieres of the Neptune.
The British lost 154 killed, including Captain Saumarez, and 558
wounded. As nearly all the vessels captured had been dismasted,
it took some time to refit them ; but on October 31st, Hawke had
the satisfaction of carrying them and his squadron into Portsmouth.
A little later he was made a K.B. for his services. All the prizes,
except the Neptune, were purchased into the Eoyal Navy.
Hawke in his despatch had occasion to complain of Captain
Thomas Fox of the Kent, who, in the action, when ordered by
signal to make sail ahead after the Tonnant and to engage her, had
failed to obey. Captain Fox was consequently tried by court-martial
at Portsmouth on November '25th upon the charge that " he did not
come properly into the fight, nor do his utmost to distress and
damage the enemy, nor assist his Majesty's ships which did."
Fox's personal courage was not impeached ; and there is no doubt
' Philip Saumarez, or de Saumarez. Born, 1710. Commander, 1741. Captain,
1743. Killed, as above, October 14th, 1747. He had served vnth. Anson in his voyage
round the world, and had distinguished himself greatly, when already commanding
the Nottinyhaiii, by his capture of the Mars, 64, in 1746. A monument to him is in
Westminster Abbey.
'^ See next chapter.
1747.] CRITICISM OF THE ACTION. 129
that his faihire to obey orders was chiefly due to the faulty system
of signals then in use. Both his first lieutenant and his master
mistook the signal for close action for one to proceed to the assist-
ance of the Admiral ; and he acted accordingly. The trial lasted
until December 'i'ind, when the court came to the conclusion that
" he had been guilty of backing his mizen-top-sail and leaving the
Tonnant, contrary to the 10th and 11th Articles of War." He was
acquitted of cowardice, but, because he had paid too much regard to
the advice of his officers, contrary to his own better judgment, he was
sentenced to be dismissed from the command of the Kent. Captain
Fox, whose post-captain's commission dated from August 6th, 1737,
and who always had been a good officer, was never again employed,
but was superannuated as a Kear-Admiral in 1749. He died
in 1768.
Criticising the battle. Captain Mahan ' says :
" If . . . Hawke showed in liis attack the judgment and dash which always
distinguished that remarkable officer, it may be claimed for Commodore I'Etenduere that
fortune, in assigning him the glorious disadvantage of numbers, gave liim also the
leading part in the drama, and that he failed nobly."
Troude, the French naval critic, remarks ' of de TEtenduere that :
"he defended his convoy as on shore a position is defended, when the aim is to save
an army corps, or to assure an evolution. He gave himself to be crushed. After an
action that lasted from midday to 8 p.m., the convoy was saved, thanks to the obstinacy
of the defence, and 250 ships were secured to their owners by the devotion of I'Eten-
duere, imd of the captains under his orders. This devotion caimot be questioned, for
eijht ships had but few chances of surviving an action with fourteen ; and not only did
tlie commander of the ei'j;ht accept an action which he might possibly have avoided,
liut also he knew how to inspiie his lieutenants with trust in himself, for all supported
the fight with honour, and yielded at last, slKuving the most indisputable proofs of their
fine and energetic defence."
"The whole affair," concludes Mahan, "as conducted on both sides, affords an
adiniriible study of how to follow up an advantage, original or secured, and of the
results that may be obtained by a gallant, even hopeless defence, for the furtherance of
a particular object."
The squadron of Anson and Warren, as well as that of Hawke,
cruised in the Channel and Bay after the actions above narrated,
and took numerous prizes : but an account of such smaller engage-
ments as were fought in the course of the year may be reserved for
the next chapter.
The war had been very costly to France. The French Navy had
' ' Influence of Sea Powei,' 272.
- ' Bats. Nav. de la France.'
VOL. III. K
130 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1748.
been almost crushed, and Fi-euch maritime trade had been ahnost
ruined, though the armies of France had been successful on land.
But all the Powers engaged were to some extent weary of the
conflict ; and it was thei-el'ore felt, when a Congress met at Aix-la-
Chapelle to consider the terms of an arrangement, that there was
every prospect of the conclusion of a satisfactory peace. In the
meantime, Great Britain did not relinquish, nor even diminish, her
preparations to continue the struggle. In 174K, as in previous years,
all ships, as they became ready for sea, were put into commission.
Squadrons were sent to cruise at various times in home waters,
under Vice-Admirals Sir Peter Warren and Sir Edward Hawke, and
Eear-Admiral William Chambers. Commodore the Hon. George
Townshend watched the coast of Flanders ; Vice- Admiral the Hon.
John Byng remained in the Mediterranean ; and in the West Indies
Rear-Admiral Charles Knowles and Commodore George Pocock, let
slip no opportunity of annoying the enemj'.
Eear-Admiral the Hon. Edward Boscawen had been sent out in
1747, as Commander-in-Chief, to the East Indies, and had taken
with him reinforcements to the station. Before his arrival, Eear-
Admiral Thomas Grifiin (1) had received three additional ships from
England, so that his squadron consisted of three 60's, three 50's,
three 40's, and one 20, and was considerably superior to the French
force in the same seas. But Mr. Griffin had been outwitted and
out-manceuvred by the French commander-in-chief, M. Bouvet,
who, in spite of him, had thrown troops into Madras.
The French ministry was warned of Boscawen's departure from
England ; and M. Dupleix, being advised from home, took such
measures as he could to meet the Eear-Admiral, who had with him
six ships of the line or 50"s, and four smaller craft, and who
convoyed eleven ships of the East India Company with 1500
soldiers on board. Boscawen reached the Cape of Good Hope in
March, 1748, and was there joined by six Dutch East Indiamen,
having on board 400 troops. On May 18th he sailed again, and on
June 'JBrd, after a troublesome vo}'age, sighted Mauritius, which he
had decided to make an attempt upon. The island had been
informed by Dupleix of its danger, and was to some extent prepared,
though it was but ill garrisoned. On the 2.5th, after having
reconnoitred the coast, Boscawen decided to abandon the project
and to proceed to Coromandel. Had he known how few troops were
in the island, he would certainly have persisted, and would probably
17-lS.]
B08CAWEN IN TIIIC EAST INDIES.
131
have been successful ; for the works, though strong, could not be
properly manned.^
The Dutch convoy parted company at Mauritius, and proceeded
for Batavia ; and Boscawen, on June '27th, sailed for Fort St. David
(Cuddalore), where he arrived on July '29th. There he met Rear-
Admiral Griffin, who, in the meantime, had been promoted to be
Vice-Admiral, and who soon afterwards returned to England by way
of Trincomale with part of his command.
Besides the naval force, Boscawen had under him many
armed East Indiamen, and 3'240 troops, including sepoys but not
including Marines. Indeed, he was m a position to dispose of
5'2'20 men to act on shore ; and, in addition, 2000 native auxiliary
cavalry were placed at his service for the contemplated siege of
Pondicherry, whither Boscawen presently proceeded. Leaving
Captain William Lisle in command of the squadron, he landed to
direct the operations on shore. Early in August the army closed
round the town, which was closely blockaded from seaward by
the Exeter, Chester, Pembroke and Swallow. An assault upon one
of the outlying works was repulsed with loss on August 12th, but the
siege was formally begun and some successes were gained. The
engineers upon whom Boscawen was obliged to depend were, how-
' Rear-Admihal the Hon. Edward Boscawen's Squadi!(in, which arrived
OFF Mauritius in June, 1748.
Ships.
Gims.
).'(.iiiinauii('is.
■
f Rear- Admiral Hon. Edward Boscawen.
tCaptain Samuel Marshall (1).
Namur ... '^■'
It
Vigilant
64
„ William Lisle.
Beptford
(iO
I'lKPiiias Lake.
Pembroke
GO
„ 'I'liomas Fincher.
Ruby
50
„ Joseph Knight.
Chester .
50
„ Richard Sjjry.
Deal Castle
24
„ John Lloyd (2).
Smallou)
16
Commander John Rowzier.
Basilisk (bomb)
8
„ William Preston.
Apollo (hospital ship)
20
Lieutenant Robert Wilson.
The above, proceeding
Exeter .
York .
Harwich
Preston .
Lively .
found on the East Indies Station, the following
60
60
50
50
20
Captain Lord Harry I'owlett.
„ Thnothy iMucella.
„ Philip Carteret (1).
„ William Adams (1).
„ Nathaniel Stephens, actg.
in addition to the other vessels, which, upon Boscawen's arrival, returned home or went
elsewhere.
K 2
lo2 MAJOR OPKIIATIONS, 17H-I762. [1748.
ever, incompetent ; and little progress was made, though the JJufiUisk,
bomb, threw some shells into the place. In the operations Ensign
Clive, afterwards Lord Ciive, gained his first military distinction.
As the siege threatened to be a protracted one, Boscawen ordered
Captain Lisle to begin a general bombardment from the ships of
the squadron ; but, owing to the shallows, these could not approach
near enough to do much damage. The business, however, cost the
life of Captain William Adams (1), then commanding the Harwich.
In the meantime the weather was bad, and the troops were sickly;
and, as the neighbourhood of the town was liable to be completely
flooded at the beginning of the rainy season, the siege was raised
at the beginning of October, the sick being removed to the ships,
and the army retiring overland to Fort St. David. The expedition
cost the lives of 1065 British, and of only about 200 French. The
fiasco reflected no disgrace upon Boscawen, and was entirely due
to the incapacity of the engineers and some of the military leaders.
Nevertheless, it greatly lowered Biitish prestige with the natives,
and led to some serious defections.
Boscawen learned in November of the cessation of hostilities
between Great Britain and France, but was ordered to remain on
his station until advised of the final conclusion of peace. Part of
the squadron went to Acheen, and part to Trincomale, to avoid the
monsoon, and the whole returned in January, 1749, to Fort St.
David, where it lay maintaining an observant attitude, while
M. Bouvet, with the French forces, lay at Madras, or as it was
then often called. Fort St. George, 120 miles to the northward.
But the British did not remain wholly idle, and in April ships
were detached to assist the East India Company in a war with the
King of Taxajore. While this service was being performed, a violent
hurricane WTecked the Pemhrolce and Namur. The former lost her
captain,' and all hands except fourteen, 330 in all ; the latter lost
520 souls, though the admiral, captain, and a few ofiicers, being on
shore, fortunately escaped. Two East Indiamen were also wrecked.
In August, in pursuance of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which
had been concluded on April 18th, 1748, Madras, in a dismantled
condition, was surrendered to the British.
In the West Indies, in Februarj', 1748, Eear-Admiral Charles
Knowles, with a squadron and detachment of troops, left Port
' Tliis was on April \?A\u Captain Tlionjas Fincher's post-commission dated from
Deeemlier Gtli, 17-15.
1748.]
KNOWLES AT rOUT LOUJH.
133
Koyal to make an attack on Santiago de Cuba ; but, the winds
blowing persistently from the north, the ships could not make that
place. Knowles therefore determined to attack Port Louis, on
the south side of Hispaniola. The squadron ' arrived there on
ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES KNOWLES, DART.
{From an cngravimj hy Bidlfi/.')
' British Squadron at the Capture of Port Louis, Hispaxiola, 1748.
Sbips.
Guns.
Men.
C'omnmnilprs.
Cornwall.
80
600
(■Rear-Admiral Charles Knowles
(.Captain Eichard C^hadwick.
(B.).
Plymouth
60
400
))
Digby Dent (2).
Elizahetli .
70
480
J)
Polycarpus Tavlor.
Canterbury .
60
400
David Brodie.
Strafford .
60
400
James Kentone.
Warwick .
60
400
Thomas Innes.
Worcester
60
400
Thomas Andrews i^'S).
Oxford .
50
300
Edmond Toll.
Weazel
6
102
Merlin .
6
100
134
MAJUll OPERATIONS, 1714-1762.
[1748.
March 8tb, and was at once ordered by signal to cannonade the
fort, which mounted seventy-eight guns, and was garrisoned by
600 men. A warm engagement resulted, and in the height of it
the enemy sent out a fireship, which was designed to fall on board
the Cornwall or the Elizabeth. She was towed off by the boats
of the fleet, and left to burn out and explode innocuously. The
British boats then boarded and brought away two other craft,
which had been prepared as
fireships. The action con-
tinuing, the Spanish fire after
a time languished, and the
Kear- Admiral sent a summons
to the governor, who, first
taking some time for reflection,
suri'endered upon terms. The
place was then taken posses-
sion of. The squadron lost
only 70 killed and wounded,
but among these was Captain
Eentone,^ of the Strafford, and
Captain William Cust,''^ of the
Bofiton, who, with the Eear-
Admiral's permission, was
serving as a volunteer on board
the Elizabeth. The enemy
lost inO killed and wounded.
With the place were captured
three ships, a snow, and three
privateer sloops. The fort was
burnt, it not being advisable
to retain it ; and, the conditions
of wind being at length more favourable, the Eear-Admiral decided
to prosecute his scheme against Santiago de Cuba.
The place had been much strengthened since the time of
Vernon's attack upon it ; and, as the appearance of the British had
been anticipated, all possible precautions had been taken. Knowles
arrived before the town on April 5th, and, the mode of procedure
having been determined. Captain Dent of the Plymouth, as senior
James licntone ; cominaudei', 1739 ; captain, 1740.
William Cast ; commander, 1746 ; captain, 1747.
1748.]
KNOWLES'S ACTION OFF J/AVANA.
135
captain, claimed and ol)laincd the lionoui' ol leading in. He was
seconded by the flagship. When the Pli/mouth had approached
close to the harbour's mouth it was seen that the passage was
obstructed by a boom, backed by vessels held ready to be used as
tireships. The nearest forts were cannonaded and the fire was
returned ; but Dent, having taken the opinion of his officers, came
to the conclusion that it was impracticable to proceed, and so
reported to the Bear-Admiral, who thereupon drew off and went
back to Jamaica.
Dent's apparent hesitation on this occasion was taken exception
to by Knowles ; and, in consequence, the captain of the I'li/iiioiit]/
was court-martialled on his return to England, but he was honour-
ably acquitted.
Later in the year Knowles was informed that the Spanish Plate
fleet was expected at Havana from Vera Cruz. He therefore
detached Captain Charles Holmes, in the Lenox, to convoy a great
body of trade, which had been collecting to sail for England ; and
himself went to cruise off the Tortuga Banks in search of the enemy.
The convoy under Holmes sailed from Jamaica on August 2.5th ;
and, being prevented from getting through the Windward Passage,
had to bear away for the Gulf of Florida. On September '29th it
sighted seven large ships, which were presently recognised to be
Spanish men-of-war.' Holmes signalled the convoy to disperse
and to look to its own safety, while he endeavoured to draw the
attention of the enemy to his own ship ; and, knowing where the
Rear- Admiral was cruising at the time, he succeeded, under press of
sail, in joining him on the following morning, when he reported what
had occurred. Ivnowles instantly went in quest of the Spaniards,
Order of Battle of the British and Spanish Squadrons in tiik
ArxioN OFF Havana, On-niiFR 1st, 1T!S.
Bkitish.
Sl'ANISil.
Sbips.
1 Guns.
Commauders.
Ships.
Guns.
Commanders.
Tilbuni . . .
. ' 60
Capt. Charles Powlett.
Iiimvcihle . .
. ' u
Rear- Admiral Spinola-
Siraffurd . .
liO
„ David Bvudie.
Conquistador .
. 1 64
Dou de Sail Justo.
1 Rear -Admiral Charles
Africa . . .
. ' 74
Vice- Admiral Reggiu.
Cornwall . .
SO
I Kuuwles.
Drai/6n . . .
64
Don de La I'a^:.
(Capt. Polycarpus Taylor.
Nttiioa Eapaiio .
. 1 64
Don Barrella.
Lenox . . .
70
,, Charles Holmes.
Meal Familia .
(34
Don Furre-stal.
Warwick . .
00
,, Thomas lunes.
Canterbury. .
(iO
,. Edward Clark (1).
GaUja 1 . . .
M
Dou Garrecocha.
Oxford 1 . . .
'M\
., KdiiKaidTull.
1 N..t hi
the line.
136 MAJOR OPEIIATIONS, 1714-17G2. [1748.
aud sighted them early in the morning of October 1st between
Tortuga and Havana. The Spaniards at once formed a line ; yet
the British, though they had the advantage of the wind, edged down
only very gradually, and it was 2 o'clock before either side fired.
The distance was then too great for much damage to be done, but
at about 2.80 p.m., the two squadrons being nearer, a brisk action
was begun. The Spaniards seem to have been in good order and
close together, but the Wancick and Canterbiuij were far astern
of station, so that for nearly two hours the British had but four
ships opposed to six of the Spanish. During this time the Cornwall
engaged the Africa at pistol range, and was so gallantly received
that in half an hour she was obliged to fall astern and quit the line,
having lost her main-topmast and received other damage to her
rigging. Soon afterwards the Conquistador, also much damaged
aloft, di'opped astern of her consorts and fell nearly where the
CornicaU lay refitting. Knowles lost no time in attacking her, and
quickly killed her captain ; but that officer's successor fought the
ship bravely until she had thrice been set on fire by shells from
the eight cohorns,^ which the CornicaU, unlike most of her class,
carried. Not until then did he surrender. The Lenox had taken
the Cornwall's place and had warmly engaged the Africa; but
other Spanish ships succoured their admiral, and Captain Holmes
was hard pressed for about an hour until he was relieved bj^ the
Warwick and Canterburi/. The action then became general and
fierce, and so continued until about 8 p.m., when the Spanish drew
off towards Havana, closely pursued. All, however, escaped except
the Conquistador. The Africa, owing to her damaged condition,
had to anchor before she reached port ; and, being discovered by
the British two days after the action, was burnt by the Spaniards
to save her from capture. The enemy lost 86 killed and 197
wounded ; the British had 59 killed and 120 wounded. But whilst
the Spaniards had several officers of rank included in each category
the British had none in either.
Knowles continued to look out for the Plate fleet, but in vain.
In the course of time he learnt from a prize that the preliminaries
of peace had been concluded and that hostilities were to cease,
whereupon he returned to Jamaica. When he went home to
England he comj)lained of Holmes for having left the convoy,
' ('i)li()ni, a small mortar, so named from its inventor, Menno van Coehoorn, the
Dutch military engineer (born 1641 ; died 1704).
1718.] KNOIVLES'S COURT-MAliTIAL. 137
oblivious of the fact that, had IJolnies not rejoined the llaj,', tJie
victory off Havana could not have been gained. Holmes was most
honourably acquitted. On the other hand, some of the captains
of the squadron complained of the conduct of the Kear-Admiral, who
was in consequence tried on board the Charlotte yacht, at Deptford, by
a court-martial which sat from the 11th to the '20th December, 1749.
It appeared that while Rear-Admiral Knowles was standing for the
Spanish fleet he might, by a different disposition of his squadron,
have begun the attack simultaneously with six ships, and might
have begun it earlier in the day. It appeared too, that, owing to
the method which he pursued, he had begun to attack with only
four ships. Upon these points the court condemned him ; and it
was also of the opinion that, in order proj)erly to conduct and direct
the operations of his command, he ought to have shifted his flag
from the ConuniU to some other vessel, after the former had
been disabled. For the rest, the proceedings amply vindicated the
Rear-Admiral's personal courage. The sentence was thus worded :
" The court uiiaiiimously agree tliat llear-Adniiral Knowles falls under part of the
14tli Article of War, being guilty of negligence, and also under the 23rd Article. The
court therefore unanimously adjudge him to be reprimanded for not hringing up
the squadron in closer order than he did, and for not beginning the attack with so
great a force as he might liave done; and ahio for not shifting his flag, on tlie Cornwall's
being disabled."
On the Leeward Islands' Station, Commodore Pocock learned
by the arrival of the Weazel, sloop, despatched to him by Hawke,
of the approach of the large convoy, which had been under the
escort of M. de I'Etenduere ; and, although he had not time to
collect the whole of his squadron to intercept it, his ships, and the
privateers on the station, succeeded in capturing no fewer than
thirty-five sail of it.
In the Mediterranean, where Eear-Admiral the Hon. John Byng
commanded, the British fleet was too strong for the French and
Spanish to attempt at sea anything of importance before the
conclusion of the peace. The British hampered the passage of
reinforcements to the allied armies at Genoa, by arming a number of
small craft and entrusting them to lieutenants, who cruised with
great success inshore, and intercepted many transports. On the
peace being concluded, Byng returned to England with most of the
larger ships of his fleet.
In the home seas Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hawke went on
138 M A.I on Ol'KliATJONti, 1714-17G2. [174'J.
a cruise with a considerable squadron in the month of January ;
and, ere he returned to port, made several prizes, including the
Magnaiiiiiic, 74, an account of the capture of which will be found in
the next chapter. liear-Admiral Sir Peter Warren, in April, also
went on a cruise ; but in May both he and Hawke were recalled to
England upon the settlement of the preliminaries of peace.
" In the course of the war," says Beatson,' " the British captured
from the Spaniards 1'249 ships, and from the French 2185, making
in all 3434. The Spaniards captured from the British 1360, and the
French 1878, making together 3238, being 196 fewer than w'hat had
been taken by the British." Yet, in spite of this, the general balance
was in favour of Great Britain, for not only were several of the
Spanish prizes extraordinarily valuable, but also the British mer-
chant marine, on account of its superior strength, was far better
able than either the French or Spanish to suffer great losses without
being seriouslj' crippled. The main gain to Great Britain by the
war was the reduction of the French navy to proportions which, for
the time, were no longer formidable. The peace itself benefited
her but little, for, in accordance with it, all conquests made by any
of the combatants were to be restored. On the other hand, the
point which had been the chief occasion of the war — the right of
British ships to navigate the American seas without being searched
— was not touched upon, and i^emained unsettled. The right to the
province of Nova Scotia, or Acadia, was to be left to be discussed by
commissioners appointed for the piu-pose. This last matter, never
having been properly arranged, was, as will soon be shown, pro-
ductive of another bloody and expensive war.
The first care of France after the conclusion of peace was to
reorganise and revive her navy. Great numbers of ships were laid
down at home ; and contracts were placed abroad, especially in
Sweden, for the construction of others. None of the ambitious
projects of King Louis were surrendered. He had merely accepted
peace in order the better to prepare for the realisation of his designs.
Nor did the French agents invariably take the trouble to obey the
spirit of the treaty. As early as 1749 the French Governor of
Martinique seized and fortified the neutral island of Tobago ; and
the place was not evacuated until grave international comphcations
threatened to arise out of the matter. Again, in 1751, the French
contemplated aggressions on the "West African coast, and only
' ' Xav. anil Milit. Mems.," i. -414.
1754.] OPERATIONS DURING Till-: PILWE. 139
desisted when Captiiiii Matthew Jiucklc (1), of the Asui.staiicc, 50,
informed M. Perrier de Salvert, the French commodore, that if he
persisted in his designs of building a fort at Annamaboe, the British
would look upon it as a breach of the peace and would repel force by
force.
French aggression in other (piarters was not always checked
with equal promptitude. M. dc^ La Jonquiere, the French com-
mander-in-chief in North America, and M. de La Galissonniere,
Governor of Canada, hatched between them a project for tampering
with the Indians of North America and for gradually driving British
settlers out of that continent ; and French officers occupied British
territory in Nova Scotia and built forts there. Kemonstrances were
made, and in 1750 commissioners were appointed to adjust the
disputes ; but nothing came of their conferences. Still, while Great
Britain herself remained almost indifferent, the Colonists at last
took up the question. Virginia raised 400 men and £10,000 for the
defence of its inland borders, and confided the command of its
troops to Major George Washington.' The French Canadians,
iowever, in spite of the heroism of the Americans, captured them
and their commander on July 8rd. Thereupon the colonial
governors held a congress and agreed upon a common plan of
defence; and the Ministry at home, shamed into action, sent troops
under General Braddock to the assistance of the Colonists. These
were convoyed to America in 1754 by two 50-gun ships'" under
Commodore the Hon. Augustus Keppel. Such signs assured the
French that, if they persisted in their policy, an open rupture could
not but result : and they therefore endeavoured to associate Spain
with them in the coming quarrel ; but their schemes were foiled by
the watchfulness of Sir Benjamin Keene, the British ambassador at
Madrid.
In India, where M. Dupleix still governed Pondicherry, the
French were as aggressive as elsewhere ; and, in consequence,
hostilities between the two East India Companies were almost
unceasing, so that the peace in that quarter was a merely nominal
one. Clive in this contest won great successes and opened up to
' This was the begiuuing of the great Washiugtou's iuilit;iiy career. See ^^'alpole :
' Mems. of George II.,' i. 347 ; and ' Corresp.,' iii. 73.
'' Centuriun, Ca\it. the Hon. Aug. Keppel; and Norwich, Capt. the Hon. Samuel
Barrington. In the latter, Adam Diuaeau, afterwards Lord Duncan, served as acting
lieutenant. — Keiipel : ' Life of Keppel," i. 201.
140 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1755.
the British East India Company such a vision of future wealth and
glory as induced it to beg the Ministry at home to assist it in pre-
serving its rapidly growing superiority over its French I'ival. In
response the Government in 1754 despatched Kear-Admiral Charles
Watson with a force which, as ultimately constituted, consisted of
the Kent, 70, Cumberland, 66, Tiger, 60, Salisbury, 50, Bridf/e-
water, 24, and Kingfisher, 16. France at the same time sent out
a squadron of neai-ly equal strength; but, before the ships arrived,
Dupleix had been recalled, and the French in India had adopted
a more peaceable policy, which might have led to permanent
harmon}^ between the two Companies had not the outbreak of war
elsewhere precluded such a consummation.
The despatch of General Braddock to America led France to
throw off her mask and to assemble a large expedition at Brest and
Eochefort, destined for Canada. Great Britain in reply prepared
for war ; and on March 11th, 1755, a proclamation was issued
offering bounties for seamen and able-bodied landsmen. On
March 14th thirty-five sail of the line and numerous small craft
were commissioned ; a hot press for men was instituted in each of
the chief ports, and fifty companies of Marines were ordered to be
raised.
The French expedition left Brest under the convoy of twenty-
five sail of the line, commanded liy ^l. de Macnamara, who, after
seeing it fairly to sea, returned with nine sail, leaving the rest of the
command to M. Dubois de La Motte, who later detached four sail of
the Hne and two frigates to Louisbourg, and proceeded with the rest
of the fleet to Quebec. The British Ministry was only vaguely
informed as to these movements, and sent to North America Vice-
Admiral the Hon. Edward Boscawen with but eleven sail of the line,
a frigate, and a sloop, convoying two regiments. He sailed from
Plymouth on April '27th, 1755, with instructions to protect the
British colonies and to attack the French squadron wheresoever he
should find it. An intimation of what instructions had been given
was, at the same time, communicated to the French ambassador,
who replied that the king his master would consider the first gun
fired at sea in a hostile manner to be a declaration of war. "When
it became known how greatly superior a French force had gone to
America, a reinforcement of six sail of the line and a frigate, under
Rear-Adniiral Francis Holburne, was sent to Boscawen ; and the
necessary arrangements were so quickly made that Holburne sailed
17o5.] CRUISE OF BOSCAWEN. Ill
on May 11th and joined Boscawen off the Banks of Newfoundlaiul
on June '21st.
The mihtary operations in North America of the force under
General Braddock need Jiot be followed in detail. HulHce it to say
that an American expedition against Niagara Fort miscarried ; that
Colonel William Johnson, a colonial officer, on his way to occupy
Crown Point, defeated a considerable French force which had
attacked him ; and that Braddock himself, while leading an ex-
pedition against Fort Duquesne,^ was routed and killed. A com-
bined naval and military expedition under Captain John Rous, R.N.,
and Lieut. -Colonel Monckton, against French forts in Nova Scotia,
took Fort Beau Sejour, which was renamed Fort Cumberland, and
several other works ; and was completely successful with but little
loss.
The fleets of Boscawen and Dubois de la Motte did not
meet, although four French line-of-battle ships, which had become
separated from their consorts, were chased by the British on
June 6th. For a time they escaped in a fog ; but on June iSth,
when the weather cleared, three of the French vessels were again
visible and a general chase was ordered. The Dunkirk, 60, Captain
the Hon. Richard Howe, assisted by the Torhaij, 74 (Boscawen's
flagship). Captain Charles Colby, after a brisk action took the
Alcidc, Captain de Hocquart ; and the Drfiaiice, 60, Captain Thomas
Andrews (2), and Fotigucnx, 64, Captain Richard Spry, took the Li/s,
which, though pierced for 64 guns, had only 22 mounted. The third
ship got away owing to the return of the fog.
When Boscawen discovered that the French had safely reached
Quebec, and that his own fleet was very sickly, he left Rear-Adniiral
Holburne with a small squadron to blockade Louisbourg, and went
to Halifax to refresh his men. But the epidemic of putrid fever
could not be checked; and, before Boscawen, with the main part of
his squadron, got home to England, the ships had lost 2000 people.
Captain Spry, with a few vessels, was left to winter at Halifax.
Boscawen and the rest of the fleet anchored at Spithead on
November 4th. It should be added that M. Dubois de la Motte
returned to France without adventure, and that the vessels which
he had sent into Louisbourg escaped and rejoined him at the time
when the British blockading squadron had been driven from its
station by bad weather.
' l)n the site of what is lunv Pittslnira.
142 MAJOR OPEItATlONS, 1714-17G2. [17oC.
The capture of the Alckle and Jjijti produced gi-eat excitement in
France, and fanned the flame of war in England ; but although
hostilities thereupon ))egan, formal war between Great Britain and
France was not declared until May 18th, 1756, upon the receipt in
London of the news of the French invasion of Minorca.
In the summer of 1755, Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hawke and
Eear-Admiral Temple West, with a strong squadron, put to sea in
hopes of intercepting the Comte du Guay, who was expected back
from the West Indies after having carried reinforcements to the
Leeward Islands. But the enemy avoided them, and re-entered
Brest without loss ; whereupon Hawke returned to Spithead. The
fleet soon afterwards sailed again under Vice- Admiral the Hon.
John Byng and Eear-Admiral Temple West, Ijut re-anchored at
Spithead on November '21st. When Parliament met in November,
the addresses in reply to the speech from the throne were very
warlike, and France, which had previously believed that the gi-eat
body of Englishmen was averse to hostilities, made efforts to
negotiate : but too late.
Early in the new year, troops were assembled on the French
coast as if for an invasion of Great Britain ; and a fleet was collected
at Brest. The threat of invasion produced almost a panic in
England, and in February the Ministry increased the alarm by-
issuing a foolish proclamation, ordering the proper officers, in case
the French should land, to cause all horses, oxen and other cattle,
which were fit for draft or burden and not actually used in the
interest and defence of the country, and all other cattle as far as was
practicable, and all provisions, to be driven or removed at least
twenty miles from the point at which such an attempt should be
made. The Government also unwisely detained at home a large
fleet, while it left America and the West Indies and the Mediter-
ranean very insufficiently guarded. It did not realise that Great
Britain is best protected from invasion by the activity and efficiency
of her Navy at sea. France took advantage of the alarm and con-
fusion to quietly embark at Toulon about 16,000 men, imder the Due
de Bichelieu, and to send them to Minorca, convoyed by a strong
squadron under M. de La Galissonniere. The expedition landed at
Ciudadella on April 19th.
Before proceeding to give an account of the operations of the
war, it may be well to say something of an expedition, which, under
Eear-Admiral Charles Watson, rendered valuable service to commerce
1756.] OPERATIONS AGAINST A NO II I A. 143
by destroying the power of a most dangerous pirate in the East
Indies. This pirate, Tulagee Angria by name, was the representative
of a family which for about a hundred years had committed outrages
on tlie Mahratta coast, and had accjuired both wealth and territory.
Angria was feared not only by the natives of India, but also by
European traders, and even by the East India Company ; and he
had extended his authority from the small island stronghold of
Severndroog over a large stretch of coast, which included the town
and port of Geriah. In 1734 Angria had taken the East Indiaman,
Derby, richly laden, and later the Restoration, 20, armed ship, and
the French Jupiter, 40. He had also ventured to attack Commodore
William Lisle, who had two ships of the line and several other
vessels in company ; and he had wrought much damage to the
Dutch trade. He was by origin a Mahratta, but he had thrown off
his allegiance ; and the Mahrattas had long urged the East India
Company to assist in effecting his downfall. More than one attempt
had been made to destroy him, but in vain ; when, in 1755, an
agreement of the East India Company, the British Government and
the Mahrattas led to the fitting out against the pirate of a force,
which finally secured the desired object. Mr. James, Commodore
of the East India Company's ships in India, sailed in March with
the Company's ships Protector, Sivallow, Viper, and Triumph, and
attacked and captured Severndroog, afterwards delivering it up to the
Mahrattas. He also took Bencote (Fort Victoria), the most northerly
port in Angria's dominions.
In November Eear- Admiral Watson reached Bombay, and further
operations were begun. James, with the Protector, Revenge, and
Bomhaij, went to reconnoitre Geriah, Angria's chief stronghold ;
and, upon his retm-n on December 31st, the Eear-Admiral sent His
Majesty's ships Bridgewater and Kingfisher, with some of the
Company's armed vessels, to cruise off the port. James joined them
on January '27th, 1756, with the Protector, and Guardian ; and the
Eear-Admiral, with Eear-x4dmiral George Pocock as second in
command, and with Lieut. -Colonel Clive in command of the troops,
followed with his squadron, arriving on February 12th. In addition
to the King's and Company's ships, there was a contingent of Mahratta
craft, which, however, did httle or nothing. Angria, terrified at the
force arrayed against him, fied to the Mahrattas to try to make
terms, and left Geriah under the orders of one of his brothers-in-law.
His offers and promises induced the Mahrattas to withdraw their
144 MAJOn OI'EHAriONS, 1T14-ITG2. [175C.
active co-operation, in retui-n for an undertaking to put them in
possession of the place ; and the hrother-in-law would have carried
out this arrangement but that Watson refused to be satisfied with
anj'thing short of the destruction of the pirate's stronghold.
In the afternoon of February 12th, the garrison having refused
to surrender, the squadron weighed and stood in in two divisions :
one to attack the fort and the other to attack Angria's fleet and
dockyard. A brisk cannonade resulted. The shipping was soon
burnt, and part of the town was set on fire. After about three
hours, the enemy's guns were nearly silenced, and the British guns
in consequence ceased also ; but, soon afterwards, firing was re-
commenced, and not until 6.30 p.m., the engagement having begun
at about 1.30 p.m., did the pirates cease to make further resistance.
Troops were then disembarked under Clive, ready to take possession ;
and during the night, lest the enemy might again take heart, the
bombs occasionally shelled the fort. In the morning Watson
summoned the garrison and was refused ; whereupon the bombard-
ment was again recommenced. At length a flag of truce was hung
out, and an offer of submission was made ; but, as it was not com-
plete and unconditional, fire was renewed. The governor then
surrendered unconditionally. On the morning of the 14th, Clive
marched into the place. Not more than twenty men were killed
and wounded on the British side in the affair. The victors found
in the fortress two hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, six brass
mortars, and a large quantity of stores and ammunition, besides
about i-100,000 sterling in rupees and ±'30,000 worth of valuables.
Ten Englishmen and three Dutchmen, who had been enslaved by
Angria, were released. The pirate fleet which was burnt at Geriah
consisted of one ship, eight grabs or galleys, and a large number of
armed row-boats called gallivats. At the end of April Watson left
the coast of Malabar, and on May 14th arrived off Fort St. David.
In North Ameiica the Earl of Loudoun commanded the British
land forces, but, before he could take the field, the French had won
several successes and had made themselves masters of the British
armed vessels on Lake Ontario.
It has been mentioned that Commodore Spry had remained at
Nova Scotia after the return of Boscawen to England in 1755.
Commodore Charles Holmes, convoying some troops from Cork, was
sent out with a reinforcing squadron, and assumed command. With
the Grafton, Notthujliani, Hornet and Jamaica he cruised off
175G.] THREATS OF INVASION. 145
Louisbourg in July, and nearly succeeded in cutting off a small
French force ; and on the following day he fought another French
force, which, however, also got away.
On the Leeward Islands' station Commodore Thomas Frankland
commanded ; and, although he fought no action, and rendered himself
very unpopular, his cruisers greatly annoyed the enemy. On the
Jamaica station, the squadron was under the orders of Bear-Admiral
the Hon. George Townshend ; but it was so small that he had to
remain almost entirely on the defensive. It, however, prevented the
French from carrying out an intended attack on Jamaica.
At home, the threat of invasion continued to cause popular
uneasiness, and in January, 1756, Vice-Admiral Henry Osborn
was sent to sea with a large squadron to convoy outward-bound
merchantmen, and, on his return, to reconnoitre Brest. He would
have been better employed in reinforcing the fleet in the Mediter-
ranean, for, although the enemy had sixteen ships of the line in
Brest and Rochefort, it was discovered that these could not be
ready before May ; and in the meanwhile. Great Britain had eight
ships of the line and twenty-three frigates quite ready, and thirty-
two ships of the line and five frigates nearly ready for sea in the
home ports.
Nor was the threat of invasion ever a serious one. The French
knew too well that the project at that time was hopeless. Upon the
return of Osborn, Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hawke was sent with a
squadron to cruise off Brest, and was reinforced in April by additional
ships under Eear-Admiral Francis Holburne. But these precautions
were taken too late, for Vice-Admiral d'Aubigny had left Brest for
Martinique on January 30th, and M. de Beaussier had sailed on
February 19th for San Domingo. Yet Hawke, ere he came back
to England in May, made many valuable prizes. He left Holburne
to cruise before Brest ; and Holburne was presently joined by Vice-
Admiral the Hon. Edward Boscawen, who assumed command of the
united fleet of eighteen ships of the line, six 50-gun ships and two
frigates.
This demonstration naturally induced the French squadron to
keep within its harbour; but some of Boscawen's vessels engaged
stragghng French ships. The invasion scare still continuing, the
Vice-Admiral took effectual means to put an end to it. He sent
the Hunter, cutter. Lieutenant Cockburn, to reconnoitre Brest.
Mr. Cockburn ran close into the harbour's mouth, and then with
VOL. III. '^
146 MAJOR OPERATTONS, 1711-1702. [175C.
five companions, got into ii bout iind rowed into the port in tlie
dark. He reported that he had found there only nine ships of war
of 50-gims or under and six large merchantmen. Boscawen and
Holburne returned to England in November, leaving Kear-Admirals
Savage Mostyn and Harry Noiris before Brest, chiefly to intercept
such of the enemy's ships as might be coming home from abroad.
The blockading force was afterwards entrusted to Vice-Admiral
Charles Knowles, who came hack to port with most of it in
Decemljer. His departure was somewhat prematm-e, in that it
enabled M. de Kersaint to get out with a small force for the coast
of Africa, and M. de Beauffremont to escape with another small
force bound for the West Indies. It also allowed some small
cruising squadrons to proceed to sea in safety.
The British Ministry was very negligent in the matter of
Minorca. It is quite clear that as early as October, 1755, it had
received intelligence that the expedition prepainng at Toulon was
destined for that island ; and that French reports to the same effect
reached it in November and December, as well as later.' Yet it
took no proper measures for the defence of the place, the reason
apparently being that, at that time, it undervalued the importance of
the position. The military command of the island was in the hands
of General AVilliam Blakeuey, an officer in his eighty-second year,
who was so infirm that when Port Mahon was besieged by the Due
de Richelieu, he, though mentally very active, was obliged to spend
great part of his time in bed. The garrison also was very weak,
and most of the officers belonging to it were on leave until some
time after the French expedition had sailed from Toulon. More-
over, the British squadron in the Mediterranean, including as it did
only three ships of the line and a few small craft, was a seiious
danger rather than a source of strength.
Yet at length public opinion in England insisted that something
must be done; and on March 11th, 1756, Vice-Admiral the Hon.
John Byng was appointed to the command of a fleet, which was
then ordered to proceed to Minorca. The position of second in
command was given to Rear-Admiral Temple West. But this fleet,
which should have been a large and powerful one, was by no means
of formidable proportions. It consisted only of ten sail of the line ;
and even those few ships were not fitted out without the greatest
difficulty and friction. At that late date the Ministry seems to have
' Kesols. of Ho. of Conims., May 'ivA, 1757.
175G.] BYNG TO THE MICDITEUltANKAN. 147
been still blind to the importance of Minorca. There were at the
moment twenty-seven ships of the line uruising in the Channel and
Bay of Biscay, twenty-eight ships of the line in commission at
home, and many small craft, whicb might bave been detailed for
the service. But Byug was not permitted to utilise any of these,
or to draw crews from them ; and his mission was evidently
regarded as a wholly subsidiary one. He was directed to take on
board the absent officers of the Minorca garrison and a reinforce-
ment of troops, consisting of the Eoyal Regiment of Fusiliers,
under the command of Colonel Lord Robert Bertie. To make
room for tliese men, all the Marines belonging to the squadron were
sent on shore, with the result that, had Byng been successful in
throwing troops into Port Mahon, he would, owing to the absence
of Marines from his sliips, have been in a condition uniit for sub-
sequently fighting an action at sea.
The Vice-Admiral prepared his fleet with as much dispatch as
possible, and sailed from St. Helen's on April 6th, arriving at
Gibraltar on May 'ind. He was there joined by some of the ships,
which, under Captain the Hon. George Edgcumbe, were already in
the Mediterranean ; and he received intelligence that the Toulon
squadron had landed a French army in Minorca, and that the enemy
was already in possession of almost every strong position in the island.
Byng communicated to General Fowke, the Governor of Gibraltar,
an order from home to the effect that, subject to certain conditions,
a detachment from the garrison, equal to a battalion of men, was
to be embarked on board the fleet. But General Fowke and his
advisers came to the conclusion, firstly, that it would be extremely
dangeroiis, if not impracticable, to throw succour into Port Mahon ;
and secondly, that the garrison of Gibraltar was already too weak to
spare the specihed detachment without danger to itself. Yet as the
fleet was in great want of men, and as Edgcumbe's ships had left
their Marines, and some of their seamen, in Minorca to assist in the
work of defence, the Governor permitted 1 captain, 6 subalterns,
9 sergeants, 11 corporals, .'j drummers and '200 privates to embark,
it being represented to him that, without such reinforcement,
several of the ships would be absolutely unable to go into action.
Captain Edgcumbe, with his little squadron, had been obliged to
retire from off Minorca upon the appearance of the French. He
had left behind him Captain Carr Scrope of the Dolpliin, who
commanded the naval detachment on shore, and who was to
L 2
148
MAJOR OPERATIONS, lTU-1762.
[1756.
act as signal officer in the event of the appearance of a British
squadron before the island. Ere Byng, with an easterly wind,
sailed from Gibraltar on May 8th, he had been joined by the whole
of Captain Edgcumbe's little force, excepting the Fhaniix, which
had been blockaded at Paliua, Majorca, by two French frigates,
and which was only able to get out upon the appearance of the
British fleet off that island. The wind was for the most part
easterly until 9 p.m. on the 18th, when a brisk northerly breeze
sprang up ; and the squadron, having sailed large all night, sighted
Minorca at daybreak next morning. Byng at once sent ahead the
Phoenix, Chesterfield and Dolphin to reconnoitre the mouth of
Mahon Harbour, to pick up intelligence, and to endeavour to send
ashore a letter to General Blakeney. Captain the Hon. Augustus
John Hervey, the senior officer of the advanced squadron, drew in
with the shore and endeavoui'ed to communicate with the castle of
St. Philip ; but, before he could effect anything, the enemy's fleet
appeared in the S.E., and the detachment had to be recalled.
Vice-Admiral Byng then stood towards the foe and made the
signal for a general chase. Both squadrons ^ made sail towards one
' The British and Fre.\-ch Fleets in the Action off Minorca, Mat 20th, 175(5.
llKMI&H.
ll-.EN.
„.
Ships. 1
Guns.
Commanders.
Ships.
Gnns. Flag-Officers.
Dejiance . . .
60
fCapt. Thomas Andrews
I (2). !
Or pit re ....
Sippopotame .
64
60
Portland^ . . .
50
„ Patrick Baird.
Pedoutable . . .
Sage
,. fM. de Glandevez (Chef
iMncaster . . .
66
f „ Eon. George Edg-
• cumbe.
I*
64
I d'Escadre).
iKear-Admiral Temple '
Guerrier . . .
14
Buckingham
68
\ We5t(R). ;
Pier
50
(Capt. Michael Everitt.
Foudroyant. . .
/M. de La Galissouuiere
I (Lieut.-Geueral).
Captain ....
64
„ Charles Catford.
84
Intrepid . . .
64
„ James Young (1").
Tthnu'raire . . .
V4
f ,, Frederick Com-
t wall.
Content ....
64
Revevgt ....
64
Lion
64
Princess Louisa i .
60
„ Thrtmas Noel.
CouronTie . . .
74
(M. de La Clue (Chef
I d'Escadre).
Trident ....
64
„ Philip Durell (1).
iVice-Adm. Hon. John
Triton ....
64
Eamillies . . .
90
{ Byng(E).
Culloden . . .
M
ICapt. Arthur Gardiner.
„ Henry Ward.
FltlGATlS, EIC.4
Kingston . . .
60
„ WmiamParry(2).
Junon ....
Hose
46
26
Frigates, etc.
Gracieitse . . .
26
Bept/ordi'. . .
Chesterfield i . .
60
40
„ John Amherst.
„ John Llojd (2).
Topaze ....
Nymphe ....
24
26
Phmnix''- . . .
20
f „ Hon. Augustus
\ John Hervey.
i'b7-(«nei . . .
14
Com. Jervis Maplesdeu.
Experiment^ . .
20
Capt. James Gilchrist.
Dolphin i . . .
20
Com. Benjamin Marlow.3
1 Were iu the Meditevrauean iimler Capt. the Hon. G. Edgcumbe, hefore Acimiral Bjmg's arri\al.
2 The Deptford, haviug heeu origiually placed iu the Hue between the Culloden and the Kiiuji^ion^ and then
removed from it, was later ordered to take the place of the dit^abled Intrepid.
3 Capt. Carr Scrope being on service ashore at Port Slahon.
4 La Galissouuiere mentions only four French frigates as having been present.
1750.]
BYNO'S ACTION OFF MINORCA.
149
another; aud at '2 p.m. the Briti.sli Commander-in-Chief made the
signal for a Hne of battle ahead. But, the wind dropping, this
order could not be properly carried
out. In the meantime he took the
precaution of reinforcing such of the
ships as were most weakly manned,
by means of drafts from the frigates ;
and he directed that the Pluriiix,
which had been reported as unfit for
general service, should be made ready
to act as a fireship in case of necessity.
At about six o'clock in the evening
the enemy advanced in order, with
twelve ships of the line and five
frigates ; the van being commanded
by M. Glandevez, the centre by M. de
La Galissonniere, and the rear by M.
de La Glue. An hour later the French
tacked, and went away a distance of
about six miles, with a view to gaining
the weather-gage ; and Byng, to pre-
serve that advantage, tacked likewise
On the following morning two tartans,
which had been sent out by M. de
Eicheheu with soldiers to reinforce
M. de La Galissonniere, were chased
by the British ships, one of them
being taken by the Defiance, and the
other escaping. That morning at
daybreak, the weather was hazy, and
the enemy was not at once seen ; but,
a little later, he came in sight in
the S.E.
Captain Mahan's account of the
action which followed may be here
quoted, as it admirably summarises
what occurred.
byng's action, may 20Tn, 175G.
I— At 2 P.M.
British, black,- French, while.
[The angle of approach "was somewhat
greater than as shown in the plans.]
dyng's action, may 20th,
n— At 3.30 P.M.
BritLsh, binck : French, ivhite.
ilntrepitl should he flying up into the
wind. She is here represented as before
the wind.]
"The two fleets," lie writes, "having sighted each other on the morning of
May 20th, were found after a series of manoeuvres both on the port tack, with an
easterly wind, lieadiug southerly, the French to leeward, between the English and the
150
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762.
[1756.
liarbour. Bviig ran down in line aliead oft' the wind, tlie Frencii remaining by it, so
tliat when tlie former made the signal to engage, tlie fleets were not itarallel, but
formed an angle of from 80° to 40° (PI. I.). The attack wliicli ]?yng I).y his own account
meant to make, each ship against its opposite in the enemy's line, difficult to carry out
under any cii-cumstances, was here further impeded by the distance between the two
rears being much greater than that l)etween the vans ; so tliat liis whole line could not
come into action at the same moment. When the signal was made, the van shijis kept
away in obedience to it, and ran down for tlie French so nearly liead on as to sacrifice
their artillery fire in great measure (PL II.). They received three raking broadsides
and were seriously dismantled aloft. The sixth
English ship" {Intrepid) "counting from the
van, had her foretopmast shot away, flew U]i
into the wind, and came abacK, stopping and
douliling up the rear of the line (PI. III.). Then
undouljtedly was the time for Bj-ng, having
committed himself to the fight, to have set the
example and borne down, just as Farragut did
at Mobile when his line was confused by the
stopping of the next ahead ; but according to
the testimony of the flag-captain, Mathews's
sentence deterred him. ' You see. Captain
Gardiner, that the signal for the line is out, and
that I am ahead of the ships Louisa and
Trident' (which in the order should have been
ahead of him). ' You would not have me, as
admiral of the fleet, run down as if I were going
to engage a single ship. It was Mr. Mathews's
misfortune to be prejudiced by not carrying
down his force together, which I shall endeavour
to avoid.' The aflair thus became indecisive;
the English van was separated from the rear
and got the brimt of the fight. One French authority blames Galissonniere for not
tacking to windward of the enemy's van and crushing it. Another says he ordered the
movement, but that it could not be made from the damage to the rigging ; but this seems
improbable, as the only injury the French squadron underwent aloft was the loss of
one topsail-yard, whereas the English sufl'ered very badly. The true reason is probably
that given and approved by one of the French authorities on naval warfare. Galisson-
niere considered the support of the land attack on Port Mahon paramount to any
destruction of the English fleet, though he thereby exposed his own. ' The French
navy has always preferred the glory of assuring or preserving a conquest to that,
more brilliant perhaps, but actually less real, of taking some ships ; and therein
it has approached more nearly the true end that has been proposed in war.' The
justice of this conclusion dejiends upon the view that is taken of the true end
of naval war." '
byng's action, mat 20th, 1756.
in.— 3 P.M.
The losses (see following page^) in killed and wounded were
nearly equal ; but the French lost no officers of rank, whereas in
Byng's fleet Captain Andrews, of the Defiance, was killed, and
Captain Noel, of the Princes>; Louisa, was mortally wounded.
The British ships also suffered much more than the French in
' ' Iiifl. i.f Sea Power u]iou Hist.,' 28G, 2S,.
1756.]
BYNG'S ACTION OFF MINORCA.
151
their masts, yards and rigging ; so much so, in fact, that Byng
deemed it right, before venturing to do anything further, to call a
council of war on board the Jiaiiii/Jirx, and to suninion to it not
only the naval officers, but also several of the land officers who
were on board the ships. The questions debated in this couiicil,
and the conclusions arrived at, were as follows : —
1. Wliether an attack on the French fleet ijave any iirospect of relieving Mahon ?
Eesolved : It did not.
2. AVliether, if there were no French lieet cruiKing at Miiioica, (lie British Heet
could raise the siege? Resolved: It could not.
o. Whether Gibraltar would not be in danger, shouM any accident befall Piyng"s
fleet? Piesolved : It would be in danger.
4. Whether an attack by the British fleet in its present state U]ion that of the
French woidd not endanger Lribraltar, and expose the trade in the Mediter-
ranean to great hazards ? Re.solved : It would.
5. Whether it is not rather for His Majesty's service that the fleet should proceed
immediately to Gibraltar? Eesolved: It should proceed to Gibi-altar.
As a result, the squadron sailed for Gibraltar, and, on the way,
occupied itself in repairing such damages as could be repaired at
' The losses in killed and wounded in the two lleets were as follows: —
BKrrisH.
.Ships.
Defiance .
Portland
Lancaster
Biichimjlmm .
Cii'ptain. .
Intrepid .
Princess Louisa
Totals
ICilleil.
14
G
1
Woimdeil.
45
20
14
Fkench.
•Ships.
6
>\0
9
36
13
42
165
Orphee
Ilippopotame
Ii'ei/i)ittahle
Sa</e .
Guerrie.r .
Fier .
Foudroyaiit
Temirairv
Conten t .
Lion .
Couronnc
Triton .
Totals
10
26
0
10
(1
0
S
0
43
0
4
•>
10
0
15
5
19
v>
7
0
3
.5
14
136
London Gazette of June 26th, 1756. Lists in Beatsou, iii. 118, put the total losses
at — British, 43 killed, 168 wounded ; French, 38 killed, 181 wounded. La Galissonniere
puts the French loss at 38 killed, and 1 15 wounded. It may be that 26 French were
killed outright, and that 12 more died of their wounds. No two accounts of the
number of wounded can be expected to agree exactly, some enumerators naturally
including among the wounded men with only slight injuries.
152 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1702. [1756.
sea. At the Eock the Admiral ^ found reinforcements,''* which had
been sent out to him under Commodore Thomas Bi'oderick,^ the
Ministry, after Byng's departure from England, having apparently
realised for the first time the full extent of the danger in the
MediteiTanean.
It was unfortunate for Byng that the first detailed news of what
had happened off Minorca reached the Government through French
channels. M. de La Galissonniere's dispatch cannot now be found
in the Ai-chives de la Marine in Paris, and possibly it no longer
exists ; but a copy of it, or a translation, reached the Secretary
of the Admiralty some time before Byng's own dispatch arrived
in England ; and upon the former the Government took action,
recalling Byng and West, and sending out Vice-Admiral Sir
Edward Hawke and Eear-Admiral Charles Saunders to supersede
them. The important part of this dispatch of La GaUssonniere's *
is as follows : —
" At half-past two in the afternoon the two squadrons were in line of battle and
began the engagement. The English consisted of eighteen sail, of which thirteen were
of the line, and ours, of twelve sail of the line and four frigates. The action lasted
almost three hours and a half, but was not general during the whole of the time. The
English ships that had suffered most from our broadsides got away to the windward,
out of gunshot. They continually preserved this advantage that they might keep
clear of us as they pleased. After having made their greatest efforts against our rear
division, which they found so close and from which they received so hot a tire that
they could not break in upon it, they made up their itdnds to sheer oft', and did not
appear again during the whole of the next day, the 21st. Speaking generally, none of
their ships long withstood the fire of ours. Our vessels suftered but little. They were
repaired in the night, and on the following moi-ning were fit for action." ..." Our
total killed was thirty-eight, and wounded one hundred and fifteen."
' On Jime 4th, 1756, Byng was promoted to be Admiral of the Blue.
^ Heinforcement despatched to Admiral the Hon. John B\-ng under Commodore
Broderick ; —
ships. 1 Guus. Commau'iei:s.
Prince Georije.
Ipswich
NassMi
Hampton Court
Isis.
80
fCommod. Thomas Broderick.
\Capt. Abraham North.
64 j „ Richard Tyrrell.
64 [ „ James Sayer.
64 I „ James Webb.
50 I „ Edward Wheeler.
^ This officer, who was born in 1704, and died a A'ice-Admiral in 176ii, usually
spelt his name Broderick. It was, however, properly spelt Brodrick.
■* As published in the journals of the time.
1756.] BVNG'S DISPATCH. J 53
It may here be pointed out, in passing, that this report makes
the British fleet to have been considerably superior to the French,
whereas if there were any real difference between them it was only
a very slight one ; and that it does not agree, in other respects, with
the facts as they are now accepted.
Before going further, it is right to print the dispatch which Byng
addressed to the Admiralty on May 2.5th, and in which he gave his
version of what had haj)pened. It is right also to say that the
Admiralty, after receiving this dispatch, kept it for some time
before making it public, and that, when it did publish it, gave
it to the world in a mutilated condition. The complete dispatch
was printed by Byng after his return to England, and ran as
follows : —
RttmiUies, off MinOec.\, May 'Ibtli, 17511.
" Sir, — I have the pleasure to desire that you will acquaint their Lordships that,
having sailed from Gibraltar the 8th, I got off Mahou the| I'Jth, having been joined by
his Majesty's ship Phcenix off Majorca two days before, by whom Iliad confirmed the
intelligence I had received at Gibraltar, of the strength of the French fleet, arid of their
being off Mahon. His Ma/esty's colours were still flying at the castle of St. Philip ;
and I could perceive several bomb-batteries 'playing on it from different parts. French
colours I saw flying on the ivest part of tit. Philip. I dispatched the Phcenix,
Chesterfield, and Dolphin ahead, to reconnoitre the harbour's mouth; and Captain
Hcrvey to endeavour to land a letter for ileneral Blakeney, to let him know the fleet
was here to his assistance ; though every one was of the opinion tve coidd be of no use
to him; as, by all accounts, no place was secured for covering a landing, could we have
spared the people. The Phoenix was also to make the private signal between Captain
Hervey and Cajjtain Scrope, as this latter would jindoubtedly come off, if it were
practicable, having hpt the Dolphin's barge with him : but the enemy's fleet appearing
to the south-east, and the wind at the same time coming strong off' the land, obliged me
to call these ships in, before they could get quite so near the entrance of the harbour
as to make sure what batteries or guns might he ptlaced to prevent our having any
communication with the castle. Falling little wind, it was live before I could form
my line, or distinguish any of the enemy's motions ; and could not judge at all of their
force, more than by numbers, which were seventeen, and thirteen appeared large.
They at first stood towards us in regular line; and tacked about seven; which I
judged was to endeavour to gain the wind of us in the night ; so that, being late,
I tacked in order to keep the weather-gage of them, as well as to make sure of the
land wind in the morning, being very hazj', and not above live leagues from Cape
Mola. We tacked off towards the enemy at eleven ; and at daylight had no sight of
them. But two tartans, with the French private signal, being close in with the rear
of our fleet, I sent the Princess Louisa to chace one, and made signal for the Rear-
Admiral, who was nearest the other, to send ships to chase her. The Princess Louisa,
Defiance, and Captain, became at a great distance ; but the Defiance took hers, which
had two captains, two lieutenants, and one hundred and two private soldiers, who were
sent out the day before with six hundred men on board tartans, to reinforce the
French fleet on our appearing off that place. The Phcenix, on Captain Hervey's offer,
prepared to serve as a fire-ship, but without damaging her as a frigate ; till the signal
was made to prime, when she was then to scuttle lier decks, everything else prepared,
as the time and place allowed of.
154 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [175C.
"Tlie enemy now Ijcgan to i»]jpear In mi tlie niast-liead. I called in the cruisers;
and, when tlicy had joine<l nic, I tacked tOwards the enemy, and formed the line ahead.
I found the Freuchjwere prejiaring theirs to leeward, having unsuccessfully endeavoured
to weather me. They were twelve large ships of the line, and live frigates.
"As soon as I judged the rear of our fleet the length of their van, we tacked
altogether, and immediately made the signal for the shijis that led to lead large, and
for the Dei'Tford to quit the line, that ours nught become equal to theirs. At two
I made the signal to engage : I found it was the surest method of ordering every shiji
to close down on the one that fell to their lot. And here I must express my great
satisfaction at the very gallant manner in which the Rear-Admiral set the van the
examjile, liy instant]\- hearing down on the shi]is he was to engage, with his second,
and who occasioned one of the Fiench shi]is to begin the engagement, which they did
by raking ours as they went down. The Iktrei'ID, uvfortunatdy, in the very begin-
ning, had her foretopniast shot away ; and as that hung on her foretopsail, and backed
it, he had no command of his ship, his fore-tack and all his braces being cut at the
same time ; so that he drove on the next ship to him, and obliged that and the ships
alifiad of nie to throw all back. This obliged me to do also for some minutes, to avoid
their falling on board me, though not before we had drove our adversar)' out of the
line, who ]iut before the wind, and had several shots fired at him by his own admiral.
This not only caused the enemy's centre to be unattacked, but the Rear-Admiral's
division rather imcovered for some little time. I sent and called to the ships ahead of
me to make sail, and go down on the enemy ; and ordered the Chesterfield to lay by
the Intrepid, and the Deptford to supply the Intrepid's place. I found the enemy
edged away constantly ; and as they went three feet to our one, they would never
permit our closing with them, but took advantage of destroying our rigging ; for
though I closed the Rear-Admiral fast, I found that I could not gain close to the enemy,
whose van was fairly drove from their line ; but their admiral was joining them, by
bearing away.
"By this time it was jiast six, and the enemy's van and ours were at too great a
distance to engage, I jierceived some of their ships stretching to the northward ; and
I imagined they were going to form a new line. I made the signal for the headmost
ships to tack, and those that led before with the larboard tacks to lead with the
starboard, that I might, by the first, keep (if possible) the wind of the enemy, and, by
the second, between the Rear-Admiral's division and the enemy, as he had suffered
most ; as also to cover the Intrepid, which I jjerceived to be in very bad condition,
and whose loss would give the balance very greatly against us, if they attacked us
next moniing as I exjiected. I brouglit to about eight that night to join the Intrepid,
and to refit our ships as fast as possible, and continued doing so all night. The next
morning we saw nothing of the enemy, though we were still lying to. Mahon was
N.X.W. about ten or eleven leagues. I sent cruisers to look out for the Intrepid and
Chesterfield, who joined me next day. And having, from a state and condition of the
squadron brought me in, found, that the Captain, Intrepid, and Defiance (which latter
has lost her captain), were much damaged in their masts, so thai they were in danger
of not being able to secure their masts properly at sea ; and also, ih'it the squadron in
general were very sickly, many killed and ivounded, and nowhere to put a third of
their number if 1 made an hospital of the forty-gun ship, which was not easy at sea ;
I thought it proper in this situation to call a council of war, before I went again to
look for the enemy. I desired the attendance of General Stuart, Lord Effingham, and
Lord Robert Bertie, and Colonel Cornwallis, that I might collect their opinions upon
the present situation of Minorca and Gibraltar, and make sure of protecting the latter,
since it was found impracticable either to succour or relieve the former with the
force ive had. So, thowjh we may Justly claim the victory, yet we are much inferior
to the weight of their ships, though the numbers are equal ; and they have the advantage
of sending to Miiiorca their wounded, and getting reinforcements of seamen from their
1756.] FALL OF PORT MAUON. 155
transports, and soldiers from their camp; all which uudoubl dlij has hcea d/>rie in tins
time that we have been lying to to rffit, and often in si(/ht of Minorca ; and their ships
have more than once appeared in a line from our mast-heads.
" I send thnr Lordships the resolutions of the council of war, in lohirh there was
not the least contention or doubt arose. J hope, indeed, v;e shall find stores to refit its
at Gibraltar ; and, if I have any reinforreinent, will not lose a moment of time to
seek the enemy again, and once more give them battle, though they have a great
advantage in being clean ships that go three feet to our one, and therefore have their
choice hoiu they will engage us, or if they ivill at all ; and will never let us close them,
as their sole view is the disabling our ships, in which they Imve but too well succeeded,
though we obliged them to bear up.
. "I do not send their Lordships the particulars of our losses and damages by tliis,
as it would take me much time ; and I am willing none should be lost in letting them
know an event of such consequence.
" I cannot help) urging their Lordships for a reinforcement, if none are yet sailed
on their knowledge of the enemy's strength in. th'se seas, and which, by very good intelli-
gence, will in a few days be strengthened by four more large ships from Toulon, almost
ready to sail, if not sailed, to join these.
" I dispatch this to Sir Benjamin Keene, by way of Barcelona ; and am making
the best of my way to cover Gibraltar, from which place I propose sending their
Lordships a more particular account. I remain, Sir, your most humble servant, —
"J. BVNR.
" Hon. John Clevlaxd, Esq."
The above dispatch appears to have arrived in England on
June 16th ; but it vi^as not pubHshed in the London- Gazette until
June 26th, and then only with the omission of those passages which
are now printed in italics. The omissions, it is clear, were some-
what unfair, and, being calculated to prejudice Byug, they show the
bias of the Ministry, which, previously inclined to underrate the
importance of Minorca, at length seemed disposed to attach the
utmost significance to it. The dispatch is, however, an unsatis-
factory one, even as it stands. It is too full of excuses, too
apologetic, to be the work of a strong and self-reliant man. It
smacks, indeed, more of a Persano than of a Nelson or a Saumarez.
To avoid a break in the narrative, it may here be said that the
town of Port Mahon defended itself gallantly, but had to capitu-
late, on .June '29th, on honoixrable terms. The garrison was sent to
England.
Commodore Broderick, with the reinforcement, had reached
Gibraltar on June 1.5th, and was there found by Byng on his arrival
there on June 19th. The Admiral at once began preparations to
return to Minorca ; but, while he was still engaged in these, on
July 3rd, the Antelope, 50, came in with Vice-Admiral Sir Edward
Hawke, Eear-Admiral Charles Saunders, and the order for the
supersession of the Commander-in-Chief and Eear-Admiral West.
156 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1757.
She had sailed from home ou June IGth. Captains Gardiner and
Everitt, Captain WilHam Gough (who had been a lieutenant of the
BainiUies, and who had since been appointed captain of the Experi-
ment), and Commander Chi-istopher Basset (who had also been a
lieutenant of the liamiUies and had been appointed after the action
to the command of the Fortune), were also recalled, besides other
officers, who were required as witnesses in England. The original
order to Hawke directed only the supersession of Byug ; but after
Hawke's departure from England and the receipt of Byng's dispatch
of May 25th, the Admiralty decided to go further and to make
prisoner of the late Commander-in-Chief. He sailed for England
in the Antelope, on July 9th, and, upon arriving at Spithead on
July •26th, he was put mider arrest. He was landed on August 19th
and sent to Greenwich. There he remained in confinement until
December 23rd, when he was removed to Portsmouth. His trial
began on board the St. George in Portsmouth Harbour on
December 27th, and continued until January 27th, 1757. On that
day sentence was pronounced, and the Admiral was transferred to
the Monarch, then in harbour.
The court-martial, summoned to try Byng, consisted of Vice-
Admiral Thomas Smith (4), who was president, Eear-Admirals
Erancis Holburne, Harry Norris and Thomas Broderick, and nine
captains. After hearing the evidence, the court agreed to thirty-
seven resolutions or conclusions, which embodied, among others,
the following : —
Tliat when the British tieet, on the starboard tack, was stretched abreast, or was
about abeam, of the enemy's line, Admiral Bj'ng should have caused his
ships to tack together, and should have immediately borne right down on
the enemy ; his van steering for the enemy's van, his rear for its rear, each
ship making for the one opposite to her in the enemy's line, under such sail
as would have enabled the worst sailer to preserve her station in the line of
battle.
That the Admiral retarded the rear division of the British fleet from closing with
and engaging the enemy, by shortening sail, in order that the Trident and
Princess Louisa might regain their stations ahead of the RamilUes ; whereas
he should have made signals to those ships to make more sail, and should
have made so much sail himself as would enable the CuJIoden, the worst
sailing ship in the Admiral's division, to keep her station with all her plain
sails set, in order to get down to the enemy with as much expedition as
possible, and thereby projjerly support the division of Rear- Admiral West.
That the Admiral did wrong in ordering the fire of the RamilUes to be continued
before he had placed her at proper distance from the enemy, inasmuch as he
thereby not only threw away his shot, but also occasioned a smoke, which
prevented his seeing the motions of the enemy and the positions of the ships
immediately ahead of the RamilUes.
1757.] BYNO'S COURT-MAUTIAL. 157
That after the ships whicli had i-cceived dainai^e in tlie action had been refitted as
circumstances would ])ermit, tlie Admiral ought to have returned with his
squadron off Port Mahon, and endeavoured to open communication witli the
castle, and to have used every means in his power for its relief, before
retiu-ning to (5ibraltar.
In short, the court considered that Byng had not done his
utmost to reheve St. Phihp's Castle. It also considered that
during the engagement he had not done his utmost to take, sink,
burn, and destroy the ships of the enemy, and to assist such of
his own ships as were engaged ; and it resolved that the Admiral
had fallen under the 12th Article of War ' ; and the court decided
that, as the 12th Article of War positively prescribed death, without
leaving any alternative to the discretion of the court under any
variation of circumstances, Admiral Byng should be shot to death,
at such time and on board such ship as the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty should direct.
" But," concludes the thirt^'-seveuth resokition, "as it appears by the evidence of
Lord Robert Bertie, Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, Captain Gardiner and other officers
of the ship, who were near the person of the Admiral, that they did not perceive any
backwardness in him during the action, or any marks of fear or confusion, either from
his countenance or behaviour, but that he seemed to give his orders coolly and dis-
tinctly, and did not seem wanting in jjersonal courage, and from other circumstances,
the court do not believe that his misconduct arose either from cowardice or disaffection ;
and do therefore unanimously think it their duty most earnestly to recommend him as
a proper object of mercy."
The court forwarded the sentence to the Admiralty, with an
accompanying letter signed by all the members. In this the
officers represented the distress of mind which had been occasioned
to them by being obliged to condemn to death, under the 12th
Article of War, a man who might have been guilty of an error of
judgment only ; and, for the sake of their consciences, as well
as for Byng's sake, they warmly pleaded for an exercise of
clemency.
In consequence of this letter, and of the recommendation to
^ " Every person in the fleet, who, through cowardice, negligence, or disaffection,
shall, in time of action, withdraw, or keep back, or not come into fight, or engagement,
or shall not do his utmost to take or destroy every ship which it shall be his duty to
engage ; and to assist all and every of his Majesty's ships, or those of his allies, which
it shall be his duty to assist and relieve ; every such person, so offending, and being
convicted thereof by the sentence of a court-martial, shall suffer death." — Act of
22 George IL, Art. 12.
This article superseded one in the Act of 13 Car. IL, which, after the word
"death," had the words, "or such other punishment as the circumstances of the offence
shall deserve, and the court-martial shall judge fit."
158 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1757.
mercy, the opinion of the twelve Judges was asked for as to the
legality of the sentence which had been pronounced. The decision
was given on February 14th, 1757, and was to the effect that the
sentence was legal. Some of the members of the court then made
an effort to save Byng by applying to Parliament to release them
frnui the oath of secrecy, by which they were bound not to reveal
the votes or opinions of individual members, upon the allegation
that they had something vital to disclose relative to the sentence.
Byng was respited, and a Bill for the desired purpose passed the
Commons, but was thrown out by the Lords, it not appearing to
that House that there was anything material to be divulged. The
fact is, that certain members simply desired to be able to make
public the fact that, had they realised that the result of their
sentence would be the infliction of the death penalty, their sentence
would have been other than it was. The severitj' of the punishment
caused Vice-Admiral the Hon. John Forbes, one of the Lords of
the Adnairalty, to refuse to sign the sentence, and it also induced
Eear-Admiral West, who had been offered a command, to decline
it, on the plea that although he could answer for his loyalty and
good intentions, he could not midertake to be held capitally
responsible on all occasions for the correctness of his judgment.
Byng, both dming his trial and after his sentence, behaved like
a brave man. It was at first ordered that he should be executed on
the forecastle of the Monarch. This ignomiuj' was, however, spared
him at the solicitation of his friends. On March 14th, 1757, the
day appointed for the carrying out of the sentence, the Marines of
the Monarch were drawn up under anus upon the poop, along
the gangways, in the waist, and on one side of the quarterdeck.
On the other side of the quarterdeck was spread some saw-dust,
on which was placed a cushion ; and in the middle of the quarter-
deck, upon the gratings, a platoon of nine Marines was drawTi up
in three lines of three. The front and middle lines had their
bayonets fixed, as was customary on such occasions. The captains
of all the ships in Portsmouth Harbour and at Spithead had been
ordered to attend with their boats ; but, to avoid crow^ding, thej^
were directed to lie abreast upon their oars, without coming on
board. A little before twelve o'clock, the Admiral retired to his
inner cabin for about three minutes, after which the doors of the
outer cabin were throwii open, and the Admiral walked from his
after cabin with a dignified pace and mimoved countenance. As
r.]
nYNG'S EXECUTION.
159
he passed through the fore cahin, he howed to liis acquaintances
there, and, saying to the Marshal oi' the Admiralty " Come along,
my friend," went out upon the quarterdeck. There, turning to
the Marshal, he politely bowed and gave him a paper containing
a sober vindication of his position, adding: " Eememher, sir, what
I have told you relative to this paper." He next went to the
cushion and knelt down. One of his friends, following him, offered
ADMIRAL THE HON. JOHN BYNG.
iFroni Ti. Somfou's fngravhuj ftj'tn' ilif puiiniit hi/ Uiidsuii.)
to tie the bandage over his eyes, but Byng declined the service and
blindfolded himself. The Marines, in the meantime, advanced two
paces and presented their muskets, waiting for the Admiral to give
them the signal to fire. He remained upon his knees for about
a minute, apparently praying, and then dropped a handkerchief,
the signal agreed upon. Six of the Marines fii-ed. One bullet
missed ; one passed through the heart ; and four others struck
different parts of the body. The Admiral sank to the deck, dead.
160 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1756.
A little later the corpse was put into a coffin ; and in the evening
it was sent on shore to the dockyard, whence it was forwarded to
the family burial place at Southill, in Bedfordshire. His monument
bears this inscription : " To the Perpetual Disgrace of Public
Justice, the Hon. John Byng, Esq., Admiral of the Blue, fell a
Martyr to Political Persecution, March J4th, in the year mdcclvii;
when Bravery and Loyalty were insufficient Securities for the Life
and Honour of a Naval Officer."
The tragedy, viewed from nearly every aspect, is to j^e most
heartily regi-etted. Byng was neither traitor nor coward ; but he
was not an original genius, and, having seen Mathews punished for
doing a certain thing, he believed that under no circumstances was
it his duty to do anything even remotely of the same kind. His
chief fault was that he was not independent enough, where a great
object was to be gained, to shake himself loose from formulae and
precedents, and to dash in when occasion allowed him. Yet, in
one way, the sentence may have been productive of good. It may
have taught the admirals who followed the unfortunate Byng, that
they must pay more attention to victory than to red tape, and
that not even the most honest devotion to conventional methods
is so great a merit in a naval, officer as success against the enemies
of his country.
Sir Edward Hawke, soon after his arrival at Gibraltar, sailed
with the fleet to Minorca, but found that the island had fallen, and
that the French army and fleet had returned to Toulon. The
enemy had no longer any squadron at sea in the Mediterranean,
and the Vice-Admiral therefore had to confine himself to protecting
British trade and preserving British prestige. This he did with
conspicuous energy and success. On December 3rd, 17.56, he set
out with part of his fleet for home, leaving Pear-Admiral Charles
Saunders in command.
It has been said that Vice-Admiral Charles Watson, Commander-
in-Chief in the East Indies, arrived off Fort St. David in the middle
of May, 1756. He had not been there long ere he received an
important piece of news, to the effect that six large French East
Indiamen, full of troops, were expected in India, where they were
to be fitted as men-of-war. Thereupon, in response to an m-gent
summons, he went to Madras, where he learnt that the Nawab of
Bengal, Surajah Dowleh, had seized Cassimbazar and Calcutta.
Almost at the same moment Watson received orders from the
1757.]
WATSON TAKES CALCUTTA.
KJl
Admiralty to return with his squadron' to England. He had,
however, sufficient strength of character to disregard orders which
he knew had been sent to him under misconception of the position
in India ; and he proceeded at once to the mouth of the Ganges,
with a detachment of troops under Lieut. -Colonel Clive. In spite of
great difficulties he assembled at Fulta, on December 15th, a force
consisting of the Kent, Tiger, Brklgeioater, SdlUhunj, and Kingfisher,
with some ships belonging to the East India Company. He there
found Governor Blake and other fugitives from Calcutta, and learnt
of the horrible fate of those Europeans who had been less fortunate,
and who had been confined in the infamous Black Hole. Watson
reinforced his command by the purchase of a craft, which he named
the Thunder, and fitted as a bomb under the command of Lieutenant
Thomas Warwick. The squadron sailed on December '27th ; and
on the 29th the force was landed, and Fort Bougee-Bougee was
attacked. This place was captured by an impromptu assault,
brought on by an incursion into the works of a drunken British
seaman named Strachau ; and on December 30th the white troops
were re-embarked, and the squadron proceeded up the river, the
sepoys of the Company's service marching parallel with it along
the shore.
On January 1st, when the ships entered the channel between
Fort Tanna and the battery opposite to it, the enemy abandoned
both. The Salisbury was left there to bring off the guns from the
works, and to demolish the defences, and at night the Vice-Admiral
manned and armed the boats of his squadron and sent them a few
' The Squadron uxder Vice-Admirai, AVatson in the East Indies, 175(j-17,')7.
Ships.
Kent .
Cumhe.rland .
Tiller .
Salisbury .
Brid'jeioater .
Triton ^
Kingfisher .
Thunder, bomb -
Blaze, fireship- ^
Guns.
70
66
60
50
24
24
14
ComujaDders.
/Vice-Adm. Charles Watson (B).
ICapt. Henry Sjieke.
fUear-Adm. Geoi-ge Pocock (1!).
(.Capt. John Harrison.
„ Thomas Latham.
„ William Martin (2).
„ Henry Smitli.
„ Edmund Townley.
Com. Richard Toby.
„ Tliomas Warwick.
Lieut. ?
1 Aniveil from Euglaml, aftpr tlie rest nf the s(iua<lruil had guue to Bjugat.
- Purchased aud anu'd by the Vice- Admiral iu India.
3 Could not make the Ganges, and had to b^ar away for Bombay.
VOL. III.
M
162 MAJOR OPKllATWNS, 1714-1762. [1757.
miles up the river, where they boarded and burnt some fireships,
which had been collected there. Early on the 2nd, Colonel Clive,
with the troops, landed and began the march towards Calcutta ; the
Kent, Tiger, Bridgeicater, and Kingjisher proceeding as the army
advanced. At 9.40 a.m. the enemy opened upon the Tiger from
their batteries below Calcutta, but abandoned them as the ships
drew near. At 10.20 the Tiger and Kent began a hot cannonade
VICE-ADMIRAL CHARLES W.\TSON'.
(Frum E. Fi:<her's ciigraviiifj after the poTtrnit bij Hudson.)
of Fort WiUiam, and after two hours drove the defenders out of it.
In this action the British lost only nine seamen and three soldiers
killed, and twenty-six seamen and five soldiers wounded. Calcutta
was at once occupied.
The Vice-Admiral later detached an expedition, the naval part
of which was under Captain Eichard King (1), who was serving as a
volunteer in the squadron, to seize the town of Hugh, thirty miles
above Calcutta. Another expedition, under Captain Speke, bm-nt
1757.] WATSON TAKES CIIANUERNAGORE. 103
the enemy's granaries at Gongee, and, assisted by the troops,
defeated a body of natives which had attacked them. This action
provoked Surajah Dowleli to send a large army against Calcutta.
Clive obtained from the Vice-Admiral the aid of a detachment of
seamen, under Commander Warwick, and tried to bar the way to
the city ; but, being misled by his guides in a fog, he had to retreat
upon Calcutta. In this affair Lieutenant Lutwidge of the Salisbury
was mortally wounded, and seventeen seamen were killed and
fifteen wounded. Chve, however, quickly regained his former
advanced position, and so disconcerted his opponent that the latter
sued for a peace, which was concluded on February 9th. The
British might undoubtedly have obtained more favourable terms
than they did, had they not been anxious to patch up all their
differences with the native princes, in order to be able to concentrate
the whole of their resources in opposition to the French in India.
These matters having been settled, the Vice-Admiral made
preparations for at once attacking Chandernagore ; but the French
made overtures for the neutrality of the place, and thus to some
extent delayed him. Failing in their efforts in this direction, the
French began to tamper with Surajah Dowleh. In the mean-
time, however, Watson and Clive invested Chandernagore. On
March 19th, the British boats destroyed some French fireships
which were collected near the town. On the '21st, Eear-Admiral
Pocock joined the flag ; but he had been obliged to leave his own
flagship at Ballasore, as she drew too much water to come up the
river ; and he arrived in a boat. On the '22nd he hoisted his flag in
the Tiger. On the 23rd there was a general bombardment of the
fort from land and water; and, after three hours" hot tiring, the
French capitulated. The Salisbiirij, owing to an accident, was
unable to get into action. The Kent lost 19 killed and -49 wounded ;
the Tiger, 13 killed and .50 wounded. Among those hurt was Eear-
Admiral Pocock.
The fugitives from Chandernagore were received and sheltered
by the Nawab, who acted throughout with great duplicity ; and, as
the British soon afterwards learnt of a plan of his own discontented
subjects to depose him, they determined to aid and abet it. It
cannot be pretended that the negotiations to this end were altogether
honourable to those Englishmen who were concerned in it ; and
Vice-Admiral AVatson declined to be a party to certain questionable
undertakings, which, in pursuance of the resolution, were entered
M 2
164 MAJOR OPEUATJONS, 1714-17C2. [1757.
into by Clive and the council ; but his name was, without his
privity, affixed to the treaty with the malcontents. Clive then
attacked the Nawab, and on June '23rd, 17.57, defeated him at
Plassej'. This victory eventually led to the fall and death of
Surajah Dowleh, and to the establishment in his place of Meer
Jaffier, a nominee of the British. The settlement was barely con-
cluded when, on August 16th, Vice-Admiral Watson died. His part
in the foundation of the British Empire in India has scarcely been
done justice to, and his loss, just then a serious one, would have
been much more severely felt than it was, had he not had as his
successor so capable an officer as Rear-Admiral Pocock.
Commodore James, of the East India Company's service, in
the Revenge, 22, had been stationed off Pondicherry to watch
the motions of the enemy, and had been joined there by H.M.S.
Triton, 24. But these vessels were driven off in September by
a strong French squadron ; and, since Pocock's ships were in a rather
bad condition, and some of them temporarily unfit for action, the
situation began to look threatening, especiall}' seeing that an
expected British reinforcement, under Commodore Charles Stevens,
had been detained at Bombay, and did not actuallj^ sail thence for
the coast of Coromandel until January 20th, 1758.
Indeed, the French were making great efforts to defend their
challenged possessions in India. They had already fitted out an
expedition, the naval command of which was given to the Comte
d'Ache, and the mihtary, to General Comte de Lally. The squadron
consisted of three king's ships, and one ship and a frigate belonging
to the French East India Company, with about 1200 troops on
board. D'Ache sailed on March 6th, 1757, but was driven back to
Brest by a stonn, and, while there, was deprived of two of the
king's ships, in order that they might be despatched to Canada.
Instead of them he received five more East Indiamen. He sailed
on May 4th, and on December 18th reached Isle de France, where
he found four additional ai-med East Indiamen. Choosing the best
vessels at his disposal, he put to sea with them on January 27th,
1758. The further movements of d'Ache and of Pocock will be
referred to later. Operations in other quarters during 1757 must
first be followed.
On the Leeward Islands' station. Commodore John Moore (1)
relieved Eear-Admiral Thomas Frankland and rendered valuable
service in protecting trade. On the Jamaica station, Eear-Admiral
1757.]
FUllliEiSTS ACTION WITH DE KEIiSAINT.
105
Thomas Cotes was in command, and was not less successful. In
the autumn, learning that the French were assemhling, at Cape
Fran9ois, a convoy for Europe, he sent the Augusta, Ediiihiiri/li
and Dreadnought to cruise off that place to intercept it. This
convoy was to be escorted by M. de Kersaint, with a small squadron,
which Cotes believed would be little, if at all, superior to that under
Captain Arthur Forrest of the Augusta. But de Kersaint was
reinforced at Cape Frangois, and had in consequence a considerably
more powerful command ^ than the British officer. On October '21st,'
de Kersaint issued forth, hoping by his very appearance in such
force to drive Forrest away. The latter, upon the French being
signalled, summoned his brother captains on board the Augusta,
and, when they met him on his quarterdeck, said, " Well, gentle-
men, you see they are come out to engage us." Upon which
Captain Suckling answered, " I think it would be a pity to dis-
appoint them." Captain Langdon was of the same opinion.
"Very well," replied Captain Forrest; "go on board your ships
again " ; and he at once made the signal to bear down and engage
the enem}\ The French had seven vessels to the British three.
Captain Suckling took the van. Captain Forrest the centre, and
Captain Langdon the rear. The action began at about 3.20 p.m.,
and continued very briskly for two hours and a half, when the
French commodore ordered one of his frigates to come and tow
him out of the line. Others of his squadron soon followed his
example ; and eventually the French made off. The British ships
were all much cut up aloft. The Augusta lost 9 killed and
29 wounded ; the Drcaduuuglit, 9 killed and 30 wounded; and the
Edinburgh, .5 killed and 30 wounded. The loss of the French is said
' The British and Frexch Squadroxs engaged on' OcTonEii '21st, 17-"i7.
Bkiti
SH.
Kken'ch.
Ships.
Guus.
Commauiiei's.
Ships. [Guns.
Com man lie IS.
Aujjitsta. . . .
JJiradnouf/ht .
Edinhiinjh . . .
60
(iO
61
Capt. Arthur Forrest.
,, Maurice Suckling.
,, \ViUiam Laugduu.
Tntrepide . . .
Sceptre . : . .
Opinidtre .
0'ree7tivick . . .
Outarde ....
Sauvage ....
Lirorv ....
74
"4
64
50
44
32
3 -J
M . de Kersaint.
- Oil the same day, rorty-eight years later, was fought the battle of Trafalgar.
Nelson, before goiug into action, recalled the fact that the day was the anniversary of
his uncle's gallant behaviour, and regarde.l it as of good omen.
166
MAJOR OPKRATIONS, 1714-1702.
[1757.
to have exceeded 500 in killed and wounded. Few pluckier or more
creditable actions have ever been fought ; and it is worth noting
that among the British captains, all of whom greatly distinguished
themselves, one, Maurice Suckling, was a maternal lincle of Lord
Nelson, and Nelson's earliest patron. Forrest had to bear up for
Jamaica, in order to get his ships refitted. De Kersaint, in the
meantime, picked up his convoy and sailed for France. But, at the
CAPTATS MAURICE SUCKLING, U.K., COXTROI.LEH OF THE N'AVY, 1775-78.
(By permission, j'nim tlic portrait bij Bcirdinll, in the jiossession a! Cnpt. Thomas Suckling, i?.jV.)
very end of his voyage, he met with a severe storm, in which
the Opinidtre, Greenwich, and Outarde drove ashore and were.
wrecked.
On the North American station Lord Loudoun, the new military
commander-in-chief, had formulated in the autumn of 1756, a plan
for the conquest of Cape Breton ; and, in the winter, the Ministry
at home approved his scheme. On January 3rd, 1757, he laid
a general embargo on all outward-bound ships in American colonial
1757.] PLANS OF LOUD LOUDOUN. 107
ports. His objects were, firstly, to prevent the communication of
intelligence to the enemy ; secondly, to obtain the necessary trans-
ports ; and thirdly, to secure additional seamen for his Majesty's
ships. The- measure, though perhaps it was wise, produced strong
dissatisfaction both in America and at home ; and, in spite of the
precaution, the French heard of the project. In the early spring,
therefore, they sent a fleet and strong reinforcements to Louisbourg.
Loudoun assembled at New York ninety transports ; and,
presently. Sir Charles Hardy (2), Governor of New York, received a
commission as Eear-Admiral, with orders to hoist his flag and co-
operate with the military commander-in-chief. He first hoisted his
flag in the Nightuif/ale, 20, but removed it later to the Sutherland, 50,
Captain Edward Falkingham (2). The army, consisting of 3500
men, was all embarked by the 25th ; but, just as the fleet was ready
to sail, news arrived that a French squadron, of five ships of the
hne and a frigate, was cruising off Halifax. This delayed the
departure of the expedition until the Kear-Admiral had sent two
sloops to reconnoitre. As they saw no enemy. Hardy sailed on
June 5th, and a few days afterwards disembarked his forces for
refreshment and exercise at Halifax, where were found three
infantry regiments and a company of artillery, bringing the total
force up to about 11,000 men.
Loudoun would scarcely have left New York with so feeble
a convoy' as that which was available under Hardy, had he not
had reason to expect to meet at Halifax Vice-Admiral Francis
Holburne, with a fleet from England, to support him. But, owing
to mismanagement at home, Holburne did not leave St. Helen's for
Ireland, where he was to pick up troops, until April 16th ; and
sailing from Cork on May 27th, he did not reach Halifax until
July 7th, when the season was almost too far advanced for the safe
commencement of an enterprise which could not but be met with
the most vigorous opposition. Moreover, the French had been
beforehand, and had despatched from Brest a fleet, which, under
M. de Beauffremont, went first to the West Indies, and, proceeding,
entered Louisbourg on June 5th, finding there four sail of the Hne
which a few days earlier had arrived from Toulon under M. du
Eevest. A further reinforcement from Brest, under M. Dubois
' Sutlierhinil, 50, Captain Edward Falkingham (2) ; Nir/htingale, 20, Captain
James Campbell (2) ; Kennin/jtoa, 20, Captain Dudley Digges ; Vulture, 16, Commander
Sampson Salt ; and Fernt, 14, Commander Arthur Upton.
168 MAJOR Ol'EBATIONS, 1714-1702. [1757.
de la Motte, sailed on May 3rd, and, evading the British blockade,
reached Louisbourg on June 29th, when the united French
squadrons included eighteen sail of the line and five frigates, a
force much superior to that which Holbume and Hardy were able
to dispose of. The town also contained 7000 regular troops.
Dubois de la Motte had been expressly ordered to protect Louis-
bourg, and on no account to hazard an engagement with the
British fleet unless he should be in such overwhelming force as to
place the question of his success beyond a doubt. It is right to
point this out in order to excuse him for having neither annihilated
Holburne, nor blockaded the British in Halifax.
Vice- Admiral Holbm-ne sent the Winchelsca, 20, Captain John
Kous, and other frigates, to look into Louisbom-g. Rous returned,
and, in consequence of his report, the army was re-embarked on
August 1st and 2nd, and a rendezvous was appointed in Gabarus
Bay, six miles west of Louisbourg. Ecus seems to have underrated
the strength of the French forces ; but tmer infoiination concerning
it was presently received from some papers which had been dis-
covered in a prize. This led to the abandonment of the project.
Some regiments remained in Halifax ; others, under convoy, went
to the Bay of Fundy, to Fort Cumberland, and to Annapolis Eoj'al ;
and the rest, with Loudoun, against whom there was a great outcry,
retm-ned to New York.
Holburne, however, was not satisfied, and resolved to reconnoitre
Louisbourg for himself. Leaving, therefore, a few vessels for the
defence of Hahfax, he sailed on August 16th, and arrived before the
place on August 20th. Near the harbour's mouth some of his ships
got close enough in to draw the fire from the island battery. The
Vice-Admiral was thus able to satisfy himself that the strength of
the enemy had not been exaggerated. Dubois de la Motte signalled
his fleet to unmoor, whereupon the British tacked, stood ofl', and at
nightfall bore away. On September 11th, Holbiime was again at
Halifax, where he found reinforcements of four sail of the line from
England, under Captain Francis Geary.
The original project could not then be persisted in, bi;t Holbume,
after w^atering and rewooding his fleet, which by that time consisted
of nineteen sail of the line, two fifty-gun ships, and several frigates,
sailed for Louisbourg with the intention of blockading the French,
until the approach of winter and shortness of supplies should obUge
them to come out and fight him. On September 2-4 th, he was only
1757.] STOliM OFF LOUlSBUUliO. ItlU
about sixty miles south of LouisLourcr, when a fresh easterly gale
sprang up. In the night it veered to the southward and blew an
awful hurricane until about 11 a.m. ou the 2.5th. Then, fortunately,
it again veered to the north, otherwise the fleet could scarcely have
been saved from destruction. The Tilbiirij, 60, Captain Henry
Barnsley,' who, with nearly all the crew, was lost, struck and went
to pieces. The Grafton,- 70, Captain Thomas Cornewall, bearing
the broad pennant of Commodore Charles Holmes, also struck, but
was got off. The Ferret, 14, Commander Arthur Upton, foundered
with all hands. All the other ships of the fleet were seriously
damaged, no fewer than twelve being dismasted either wholly or in
part. It was the fiercest hurricane ever experienced by anyone then
on the station ; and it naturally put an end to Holburne's plan. The
Vice-Admiral sent his most damaged ships direct to England, under
Sir Charles Hardy (2) and Commodore Charles Holmes, and went
with the rest to Halifax, whence, having refitted, he too sailed for
England, leaving a few ships under Captain Lord Colville, of the
Nurthumberland, 70, to winter at Halifax. Lord Colville had
orders to endeavour, when the season should permit, to prevent
supplies from getting into Louisbourg. The French force there,
however, put to sea at the end of October, and, after suffering from
very bad weather during the voyage, reached Brest at the end of
November.
The proceedings of M. de Kersaint on the Jamaica station have
already been described. Previous to going thither he had cruised
on the coast of Guinea ; and, in the absence of any sufficient British
squadron there to oppose him, had taken many prizes. He had also
attempted Cape Coast Castle, but had been beaten off by the resource
and courage of Mr. Bell, the Governor.
In the Mediterranean, Bear-Admiral Charles Saunders, who had
been left in command after the return to England of Sir Edward
Hawke, heard at the end of March that four sail of the hne — the
same which later reached Louisbourg — and one frigate, under
M. du Revest, had quitted Toulon. He therefore left Gibraltar on
April 2, 1757, to intercept them with the CuUudcn, 74, Benrick, G4,
Princess Louisa, 60, Guernsey, 50, and Portland, 50. On April 5th,
' In some Xavy Lists of tlie period tliis ollicer aiipears as Barnsby. He was a
captain of 1748.
- Slie lost her mainmast, foiotopniast, and rudiler ; luit tlie sliip was safely steered
to England by means of a jur\'-rudder devised by Commodore Holmes. (See plate.)
170
MAJOR OPERATION H, 17U-1762.
[1757
at 5 P.M., he sighted the enemy and, being to leeward, formed his
Hne. At sunset the French did the same, and began to fire at very
long range. The British chased, and gained so much on them that
the Gwernse!/ and Princess Louisa were able to engage; but in the
night the French got away. Vice-Admiral Henry Osborn arrived
with reinforcements in May, and assumed the command; but,
though the trade was well protected and many prizes were taken.
i
ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES SAUNDERS, K.B.
CFrom a portrait in the ' Xaval Chronicle' 1802.)
no further fleet operations of any importance took place on the
station during the j^ear.
It has been said that M. Dubois de la Motte escaped from Brest
in May 1757, with nine sail of the line and four frigates, and
reached Louisbourg. He was enabled to escape by the fact that
the blockading squadron before the place, iinder Vice-Admiral
Temple West, had been driven from its station by bad weather.
West was afterwards relieved by Eear-Admiral Thomas Broderick,
1757.] EXPEDITION AGAINST noCnEFORT. 171
who remained cruising till June, when Vice-Admiral the Hon.
Edward Boscawen took the command of the squadron for about a
month. Prizes were made, but there was no meeting between the
fleets of the two countries.
As the French still notoriously cherished the design of an in-
vasion of England, the Ministry determined if possible to be before-
hand and to deal a blow on the French coasts. A military officer,
who had made a short stay at Kochefort before the outbreak of the
war, gave information concerning the condition of the defences of
that port, which, though supposed to be weak, contained a most
valuable dockyard, arsenal, and foundry. The representations of
this officer. Captain Clarke by name, induced the authorities to
undertake an expedition against the town, and they were the more
readily inclined to adopt this course seeing that nearly the whole of
the French army was believed to be employed in Germany, and that
but few troops were supposed to be available on the Atlantic seaboard.
The scheme was kept secret ; but a large squadron was prepared
and entrusted to Admiral Sir Edward Hawke (Bamillies, 90),
Vice-Admiral Charles Knowles {Neptune, 90), and Eear-Admiral
Broderick {Princess Amelia, 80) ; and troops were collected and em-
barked under Lieut. -General Sir John Mordaunt and Major-Generals
Conway and Cornwallis. The instructions to Sir Edward Hawke
were " to attempt, as far as it shall be found practicable, a descent
on the coast of France, at or near Kochefort, in order to attack and,
by vigorous impression, force that place ; and to burn and destroy to
the utmost of his power all such docks, magazines, arsenals and
shipping as shall be found there."
The fleet consisted of sixteen sail of the line, besides numerous
frigates, small craft, and transports ; and it sailed on September 8th ;
but its destination was not known, nor even suspected, by any with
it, except the chiefs, until September 14th, when the alteration of
course revealed it.
On the 20th Sir Edward Hawke issued orders to Vice-Admiral
Knowles, directing him to attack Isle d'Aix ; and at noon the A^ice-
Admiral proceeded to execute these directions ; but, in doing so, he
chased a two-decked French ship, which escaped into the Garonne
and gave the alarm. Early on the SSrd the Vice-Admiral, with the
Neptune, 90, Captain James Galbraith ; Magnanime, 74, Captain
the Hon. Eichard Howe; Barfleur, 90, Captain Samuel Graves (1) ;
Turhaij, 74, Captain the Hon. Augustus Keppel ; Boijcd William, 84,
172 MAJOIt OrEllATIONS, 1714-17C2. [175P.
Captain Wittewronge Taylor, and two bombs, the Firedrake and
Infernal, attacked the works on Aix. The Matjnanime got into
action within forty yards of the fort, and, she being well seconded
by the Barflcur, in half an hour the position surrendered. It was
taken possession of, and the defences were later destroyed. In the
meantime vessels were sent to reconnoitre, and to sound for a
suitable place of disembarkation on the mainland ; but it was
discovered that a landing in any case would be difficult, and that,
if opposed, it could scarcely be effected. At a council of war, held
en the 25th in the Neptitne, it was therefore decided not to proceed ;
but at another council of war, on the 28th, this decision was re-
versed, and it was determined to attempt an attack, in spite of the
fact that the enemy, who had been very active, was then better than
ever prepared. Yet when, in the early morning of the 29th, all was
ready, the wind blew off shore, and the scheme had finally to be
abandoned. On October 1st the fleet sailed for England, and on the
6th arrived at Spithead. The collapse of the expedition, and the
waste of money, which its mismanagement by the Government had
entailed, caused grave public dissatisfaction.
Almost immediately afterwards a fleet of fifteen sail of the line
and several frigates, under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke and Vice-
Admiral the Hon. Edward Boscawen, was sent to sea with a view
to intercept the home-coming French squadron from Louisbourg.
It sailed from Spithead on October 22nd, but, when on its station,
was dispersed by a gale; and, before it could regain its assigned
position, M. Dubois de la Motte got into Brest unperceived, except
by the Vanguard, Captain Eobert Swanton, which sighted it on
November 23rd, and which was engaged by some of the enemy.
M. Dubois de la Motte finally called off his chasers for fear of
attracting the attention of the British fleet. Hawke and Boscawen,
therefore, returned to Spithead on December 15th.
The Earl of Loudoun was in 1758 succeeded a^ military com-
mander-in-chief in North America by Major-General Abercrombie ;
and it was determined to begin operations for the year with the
siege of Louisbourg. Admiral Boscawen, Eear-Admiral Sir Charles
Hardy (2), and Commodore Philip Durell (1), were nominated to the
command of the fleet which was designed for the service ; and, in
January, Hardy sailed in the Captain, 64, for Halifax, to assume
charge of the ships already there, and wdth them to blockade
Loiiisbourg as soon as the season should permit. Early in February,
1758.]
DISTRIBUTION OF THE NAVY.
173
DurcU followed him in the Diana, 3(5, to make the necesisary local
preparations; and on February 19th Boscavven himself sailed witli
the fleet. After Boscawen's departure, Sir Edward Hawke was
despatched to blockade the French Channel ports, while Commodore
Charles Holmes cruised off the north coast of Holland, and assisted
in obliging the French and their allies to evacuate Emden. At
the same time, troops were assembled in the Isle of Wight for an
ADMIKAL SIK GEORGE POCOC'K, K.B.
(From an enfirainttfj bi/ liidlcij, after tlw portrait >"! Uwlmn.)
intended iucm'sion upon the coast of France, and Admiral Lord
Anson assumed the command of the blockading fleet before Brest,
while a squadron for the descent upon the French coast was collected
under Commodore the Hon. Eichard Howe. It should be added
that reinforcements were sent to India, under Captain Kichard
Tiddeman ; that a small force under Captain Henry Marsh went to
the west coast of Africa; and that an expedition, ultimately en-
trusted to Commodore John Moore, sailed later for the West Indies.
174
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 17U-17C2.
[1758.
Having thus summarised some of the chiel' naval movements of
1758, we may proceed to give accounts of the squadrons and their
principal doings.
In the East Indies Vice-Admiral Pocock was joined in Madras
Eoad, on March '24th, hy Commodore Charles Stevens, and, on
April 17th, sailed, with the object of getting to windward of Fort
St. David, to intercept the French squadron which was expected on
the coast. Comte d'Ach6 had reached Mauritius on December 17th,
17.57, and had there joined the small squadron under M. Bouvet,
with whom he sailed on January 27th, 1758, and made for the coast
of Coromandel ; but, owing to the monsoon, he did not anchor off
Fort St. David imtil April 28th. Having eleven vessels, the French
cut off the escape of H.M.S. Bridgewater, 24, Captain John Stanton,
and Triton, 24, Captain Thomas Manning, which were lying there,
and which, to save them frona capture, were run ashore and burnt.
D'Ache detached thence the Comte de Provence, 74, and the Dili-
gente, 24, to carry to Pondicherry M. de Lally, the new governor of
the French East India possessions. On the 29th, at 9 a.m., ere the
detachment had disappeared, Pocock sighted the French squadron
which then consisted of eight ^ ships fit for the line, whereas the
British consisted of only seven. ^ Pocock signalled for a general
chase ; upon which the French weighed and stood out to sea
E. by N., with the wind from the S.E. At 12.30 p.m. Pocock got
within three miles of the enemy, who waited for him in line of battle
ahead. He then hauled down the signal for a general chase and
' Xine were actually put into line by the French.
- British axd French Squadrons in the Action off Cuddalore
ON April 29th, IT-^s.
British.
Fkenoh.
Ships.
Guns.
Commanders.
Shijis.
Guns. 1 Commanders.
Tiger
60
Capt. Thomas Latham.
Bien Ainu- . . .
.is' ' Capt. de La P.allieie.
Salishiiry . . .
50
( „ John tftukley
I Somerset.
Vr7i(/eur ....
64 > „ Bouvet (2").
Conde ....
441 1 „ de Rosbau.
iCommfHl Charles Stevens,
^Capt. Richard Kemptn-
1 felt.
Due d'Orleans . .
561 „ de Surville (2).
Elizabeth . . .
64
'■ Zodiaque . . .
M, (Comte d'Ache.
(Capt. Gotho.
iVice-.\dmiral George
St. Louis . . .
501 ,, .loaunis.
Tarmoutk .
64
). Pocock.
Moras ....
441 1 ,, Bee de Lievre.
fCapt. John Harrison.
Sylphide. . . .
36 , „ Mahe.
Cumherland
!)6
,, William Brereton.
Dae de Bourgoyne.
60 1 „ d'Apret.
MuxaHle. . . .
50
,, George Legge.
Weymouth .
60
„ JJicholas Viuceut.
Comte de Provence.
74 ,. de La Chaise.
DiUgente . . .
24
Queenboroiiffh .
24
„ Hon. James Colville.
Protector, storcsbip
1 Umis actually m(.'uute l. Each of these ships could, aul later did, carry mure.
1758.] POCOCK AND TrACIIK OFF CUDDALOliE. 175
made that for line of battle aliead, with the ships at a distance of
half a cable apart. The Cumherland and Tiger, sailing badly, did
not get into their positions until '2.15, when Pocock bore down on
the Zodiaque, d'Ache's flagship, which occupied the centre of the
French line. The captains of the Newcastle and Weymouth un-
fortunately mistook the signal for the line, and did not close up to
the ships ahead of them ; and, when the Vice-Admiral signalled for
closer action, these ships did not obey. The enemy opened fire as
the British approached. The Cumberland was so long in getting up
that the Vice-Admiral, and the three ships ahead of him, had, for
some time, had to sustain the whole fire of the French. Yet, Pocock
did not return a shot until his ship had hauled up exactly abreast of
the Zodiaque, and then, at 3.55 p.m., he made the signal to engage.
Commodore Stevens, with the ships ahead of the Vice-Admiral,
behaved magnificently, but the three ships astern did not properly
support the van. This might have been serious, and even fatal, if
there had not been corresponding mistakes and derelictions of duty
on the French side. The captain of the Due de Bourgogne took up
a post behind the French line, and, in the most cowardly manner,
fired across it at the British ; and the Sijlphide, 36, a weak ship,
which seems to have improperly found a place in the line, was
driven out of it at the first broadside The Conde lost her rudder,
and was also obliged to fall out. In the van and centre, however, the
action was for the most part fought with the greatest determination
on both sides. In her somewhat belated attempts to get into action,
the Cumberland nearly fouled the Yarmouth, and forced her to back
her topsails, thus obliging the Neuxastle and the Wcgmouth'to back
theirs hkewise. But when the Cumherland had at length gained
her station, the Newcastle held back, in spite of signals from the
Vice-Admiral, and in spite of the WeijmoutJi's hailing her to close
up ; whereupon the Weymouth hai^led her wind and, passing to vdnd-
ward of the Neivcastle, got into line ahead of her and quickly obliged
the Moras to bear away. The Cumberland in the meanwhile en-
gaged the St. Louis, so materially relieving the Yarmouth.
In the height of the engagement explosions of powder on board
both the Zodiaque and the Bieii Aime caused some confusion.
D'Ache signalled for those of his ships which had withdrawn to
return to the action ; but they paid no attention. Still the fight was
hot, and the Tiger was very hard pressed until she was assisted
by the Salisbury and Eli-abetJi. As the battle neared its termiua-
176 MAJOR oi'EHatkjns, 1714-1762. [1758.
tion, the ship and frigate which had been detached by d'Ache to
I'ondicherry, and which M. de Lally had refused to allow to
return at once, although d'Ach^ had signalled for them, were coming
up ; but, the British rear then closing somewhat, and the fugitive
French vessels not rejoining, d'Ache at about 6 p.m. bore down to
his friends, and then, hauling his wind, made for Pondicherry. His
final movement, which seems to be thus rightly interpreted, appeared
to Pocock to have a different significance ; for he wrote : —
" At half-past four p.m. the rear of tlie French line had drawn pretty close up to
their flagship. Our three rear ships were signalled to engage closer. Soon after,
M. d'Ache broke the line and put before the wind. His second astern, who had kept
on the Yarmouth's quarter most part of the action, then carue up alongside, gave his
fire, and then bore away ; and a few minutes after the enemy's van bore away also."
From this, as Captain Mahan points out, it would appear that
the French deliberately, before leaving the scene of the action,
effected upon the principal English ship a movement of concentra-
tion, defiling past her.'
Pocock hauled down the signal to engage, and rehoisted that for
a general chase ; but such of his ships as had fought well were too
disabled to come up with the enemy, and, night approaching, he
stood to the southward with a view of keeping to the windward of
the enemy, and of being able to engage him in the morning, if the
French did not weather the British. With this object he ordered
the Queenhorough, 24, ahead to observe the enemy ; and he con-
tinued to endeavour to work up after the French until fi a.m. on
May 1st, when, as he lost ground and pursuit appeared to be useless,
he anchored three miles south of Sadras.
In this battle, which was fought about twenty-one miles from
Lampraavy, the British had lost '29 killed and 89 wounded. At
10 P.M. on the day of the action, the French anchored off Lam-
praavy. There, owing to the loss of her anchors and to damage to
her cables, the Bien Ainie drove ashore and was WTecked ; all her
crew, however, being saved. In the engagement the French had
suffered far more severely than the British, having lost 162 killed,
and 860 wounded ; for the ships had been full of troops and the
English fire had been directed, as usual, against the hulls rather
than against the rigging. D'Ache afterwards proceeded to Pondi-
cherry, where he lauded 1200 sick, and superseded M. d'Apret,
captain of the Due de Bourgogne, by M. Bouvet. It seems to have
1 ' Tnfl. of Sea Power,' iiOi^.
1758.] B'ACJJJ-J AT rONDlVlIEUliY. 177
been chiefly owing to the backwiU'dncss of the captains in the
British rear that the French were not completely defeated.
At about the time of the action, the French on land had taken
Cuddalore, the garrison of which was allowed to retire to Fort
St. David. That place was soon afterwards besieged by M. de Lally.
Pocock received some additional men from Madras, including eighty
lascars, and, having repaired the worst damages of his ships, tried in
vain to work up along the coast. He then stood to sea, and on
May 10th had stretched as far south as lat. 9° 30', whence he
endeavoured to fetch to the windward of Fort St. David ; but,
standing in, he met with a strong west wind, and, being unable to
get higher than Lampraavy, he anchored there on May '26th. On
the 30th he sighted Pondicherry, and saw the French squadron in
the road.
D'Ache, upon descrying the British, called a council of war,
which decided that the ships should remain moored close under the
batteries to await attack ; but M. de Lally, arriving from before
Fort St. David, insisted that the British should be met at sea, and
sent out to the fleet 400 lascars as a reinforcement. As de Lally
had the supreme command in India, d'Ache weighed with eight ships
of the line and a frigate ; yet, instead of bearing down on Pocock,
who could not work up to him, he kept his wind and plied for Fort
St. David, whither de Lally returned by land to prosecute the siege.
But no sooner had de Lally departed than the governor and council
of Pondicherry, who had full powers during de Lally's absence,
recalled d'Ache to protect their town. This order was most service-
able to the British ; for, soon after the return of the French squadron,
three valuable East India Company's ships, which must otherwise
have been taken, got safely into Madras.
Chiefly owing to the bad sailing of the Cumberland, Pocock failed
to get up with the French squadron. On the 6th he heard that
Fort St. George was likely to be invested ; and, realizing that should
this be so, his ships would be unable to re-water on the coast, he
made for Madras, where he brought his defaulting captains to court-
martial. Captain George Legge, of the Newcastle, was dismissed
the service ; Captain Nicholas Vincent, of the Weymouth, was dis-
missed his ship; and Captain William Brereton, of the Cumberland,
was sentenced to the loss of one year's seniority as a post-captain.
Fort St. David capitulated on June 2nd, and M. de Lally destroyed
the place. Had he then gone at once to Madras, he could have
VOL. III. N
178 MAJOn OVEllATIONIi, 1714-1762. [1758.
taken it easily ; but he delayed, and, in the interval, Fort-8t. George
was considerably strengthened. Instead of going to Madras, he
attacked Tanjore, in order to obtain payment of some money which
had been promised by the king to M. Dupleix in 1749. Before
Tanjore, his army, weakened by sickness and want of provisions,
was defeated ; and, being obliged to raise the siege and to retire,
closely pursued by his native opponents, he had some difficulty in
reaching Carical. On his retreat thither he learnt that d'Ache,
then off Pondicherry, had intimated his intention of proceeding to
Mauritius. He therefore sent to remonstrate with the French
commodore, and was thus able to induce him to postpone his
departure.
Vice-Admiral Pocock refitted, and, on July '25th, sailed with a
favourable wind southward along the shore to seek the enemy. On
the 26th he anchored off Lampraavy, where he took or bm-ut some
small craft of the enemy. On the evening of the 27th he got within
nine miles of Pondicherry, and saw the French fleet at anchor in
the road. On the 28th, at 10 a.m., the French got under sail and
stood to the southward with a land breeze ; on which Pocock
signalled for a general chase ; but the enemy kept to windward and
anchored early next morning off Porto Novo. When the land breeze
arose, the French weighed and stood to windward ; and at about
8 A.M. were out of sight. In the afternoon Pocock burnt the French
ship Bestitution, a British prize, off Porto Novo. At 10 a.m. on
August 1st he again sighted d'Ache, who was getting under sail off
Tranquebar, and who soon afterwards fonned his line of battle
ahead with starboard tacks on board, and seemed to edge down
towards the British. But when Pocock made sail and stood for the
French, they hauled on a wind. At about 1 p.m., however, they
formed line of battle abreast and bore down on Pocock under easy
sail. He, at 1.30, signalled for a line of battle ahead with the
starboard tacks on board, and stood to the eastward under topsails,
or with the maintopsails square so as to allow his ships to take
station, in waiting for the enemy. At 5 p.m. the French van was
abreast of the British centre at a distance of about two miles. The
enemy stood on till his van was abreast of the British van, and then
kept at about that distance until (5.30, when he hoisted his topsails,
set his courses, and stood to the south-east. Admiral Pocock
signalled to his van to fill and stand on, and made sail to the south-
ward, keeping his line until midnight, when he judged the French
1758.]
POCOCK AND D'AOr/Ji OFF NFGAI'ATJM.
179
to have tacked. He then signalled the fleet to wear, and stood after
the enemy to the westward. But, at daylight on the 2nd, the enemy
was not to be seen. In the evening, however, four sails were sighted
inshore to the north-west; and on the 3rd, at 5 a.m., the British
sighted the French fleet off Negapatam, about three miles to wind-
ward, formed in line of battle ahead, with the starboard tacks on
board.'
Pocock also formed his line of battle ahead on the starboard tack,
and stood towards the French ; and, seeing that the Comte cle
Provence, 74, led their van, he ordered the Elizabeth, 64, to take the
place of the Tiger, 60, an inferior ship, as the leader of his own line.
At 11 A.M., the wind dying awa}% the British were becalmed ; though
the enemy still had a light breeze from off the land, and, with it,
stood on, their line stretching from east to west. On that course the
French passed at right angles so close to the rear of the British that
they might almost have cut oft' the Cumherhttid and Newcastle, the
sternmost ships. At noon a sea breeze sprang up, and gave Pocock
the weather-gage. Both fleets thereupon formed line afresh ; and at
12.20 P.M. Pocock signalled to bear down and engage.
The Elizabeth and Comte cle Provence began the action ; l)ut, the
latter's mizen catching fire, she had to quit the line and cut away
the mast. The French charge Pocock with throwing inflammables
on board of them ; but the Vice- Admiral does not seem to have taken
any special measures for setting his opponents on fire, though
certainly in this battle they were unusually unfortunate in that
respect. The Elizabeth's next opponent was the Due de Bourgogne,
which, being hardly pressed, would have been assisted by the
' List of the British akd French Squadrons in the Action- off
Negapatam, on August 3Rn, 17.58.
Bkiti
SH.
Fkench.
Ships.
Guns.
Commanders.
Ships.
Guus.
Commanders.
Tarvwuth .
Elisabeth . . .
Tiger
Weymouth .
Cumberland . .
Salisbury . . .
Newcastle. . . .
64
64
60
60
56
50
50
24
iVice-Adm. (leorge Po-
l cock.
iCapt. John Harrison.
K.:ommoci. Charles Stevens.
<Capt. llichard Kempeu-
1 felt.
„ Thomas Latham.
f ,, John Stukley
l Somerset.
,, William Martin (2).
„ Williaui Brereton.
,. Hon, Jamest'olville.
„ DigbyDent(3)
Zodiaque . .
Comte de Provence
St. Louis . .
Vengeur. . .
Due d'Orleans .
Due de Bourgogne
Condii . . .
Moras . . .
Diltgente . .
74
64
64
60
60
50
50
24
Comte d'Acbo.
Capt. de La Chaise.
„ de La Palliere.
„ de Surville (2).
„ Bouvet (2).
,, Bee de Lievi-e.
Queenhorouyh .
N 2
180
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762.
[1758.
Zodiaque, had not the latter had her wheel carried away by a shot
from the Yarmouth, her first antagonist. To repair it, she went
under the lee of the Due d'Orlcans; but, as soon as she returned to
the line, one of her lower-deck guns burst, and a fire broke out near
her powder room. In the consequent confusion, her new steering
gear gave way, so causing the ship to fall on board the Due
crOrlcaits ; and, while the two ships were entangled together, both
KEAK-AIlJIIKAL IlICHAIlIi KEMrEN'FELT.
{From a lithofirajihrii i'f/(jr<m/t<j hy liidhnj.)
were heavily cannonaded with impunity by the Yarmouth and Tiger.
By that time the Conde and Moras had been driven out of the line ;
and, at 2.8 p.m., the Zodiaque being free, M. d'Ache bore away. He
was followed in about a quarter of an hour by the rest of his ships.
Pocock signalled for closer action ; and the retiring enemj^ was
badly mauled as he went off under all possible sail. The signal for
a general chase followed ; whereupon the French cut away the boats
which most of them had towing astern ; and crowded to the N.N.W.
1758.] D'ACHE RETIRES TO MAURITIUS. 181
A running fight was maintained till about 3 p.m., when the French
were out of range. Pocock, however, pursued until dark, and, at
about 8 P.M., anchored three miles off Carical, while the Frencli
pursued their course to Pondicherry.
The fight, considering its indecisive character, was a very bloody
one, especially on the side of the French, who lost '250 killed and
000 wounded. The Zodiaquc alone lost 188 killed or dangerously
wounded. On the British side, however, only 31 were killed and
166 wounded. Both d'Ache and Pocock received slight injuries ;
and Commodore Stevens had a musket wound in his shoulder.
Aloft the British suffered more than the French ; and, had the
weather not been fine, many of them must have lost their masts.
D'Ache refitted at Pondicherry ; and, being apprehensive of an
attack there, anchored his ships close under the town and forts.
Feeling also that he could not, in his then state, again fight the
British, and that his remaining on the coast might lead to disaster,
he again announced his intention of proceeding to Mauritius. M. de
Lally and the French military and civil officers were astounded at
this new determination, and endeavoured to dissuade him ; but he
was supported by his captains, and, having landed 500 marines and
seamen to reinforce the army on shore, he sailed for his destination
on September 3rd. Pocock could not l)elieve that d'Ache had any
idea of withdrawing from the scene of operations, and sujDposed that
he would presently set out on a cruise. The Queenhorough, 24, was
therefore despatched to get news of the French ; but she failed to
obtain any. The British sailed from Madras on August '20th for
Bombay, calling at Trincomale for water. The Admiral ordei'ed the
Revenge, a Company's ship, to cruise off that port ; and she actually
sighted, and was chased by, d'Ache on his way to Mauritius ; but,
though the British put to sea, they could not come up with the
enemy. Pocock afterwards continued his voyage to Bombay.
In spite of the withdrawal of d'Ache, between whom and
M. de Lally the worst possible relations existed, the latter continued
his activity, and on December 14th laid siege to Madras. The town
was hard pressed, when, on February 16th, 1759, Captain Eichard
Kempenfelt, with two twenty-gun ships and six other vessels,
containing men and stores, arrived. Early on the 17th de Lally
raised the siege, retiring in such haste that he left behind him much
of his siege artillery, and large quantities of stores and ammunition.
It was a remarkable and dramatic instance of the influence of sea
182 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-176!^. [1758.
power upon history. Had d'Ache held the sea, and had he been in
a position to prevent the arrival of reinforcements and stores, the
place must have fallen. The raising of the siege of Madras may be
said to mark the beginning of the end of French dreams of empire
in India.
On the Leeward Islands' station, where Commodore John
Moore (1) commanded in 1758, no fleet action or engagement of
much moment happened during the year ; but there was great and
commendable activity ; and more than one of the transactions in
those seas will be found noticed in the next chapter.
On the Jamaica station, hkewise, there were very few events of
importance, though the enemy's trade suffered severely, thanks to
the excellent dispositions of Vice-Admiral Thomas Cotes and to the
vigilance of his cruisers.
It has been seen that in North America preparations had been
made for a new attack on Louisbourg. Eear-Admiral Sir Charles
Hardy (2) placed himself off that port as soon as the season permitted ;
but, owing to fog and gales, he was unable to prevent the entry into
the harbour of M. du Chaffault, who took out a strong squadron
from Brest. Du Chaffault, however, fearing to be blockaded, left
there six ships of the line and some frigates under M. de Beaussier
to assist in the defence, and himself went to Quebec. Hardy only
succeeded in intercepting the Foudroyant, 22, and a few other
French craft bound up the St. Lawrence. The Foudroijant pluckily
stood a short action with, the Captain, 64, ere she surrendered. She
had on board a large amount of very valuable stores.
Admiral the Hon. Edward Boscawen, who had been appointed
to the command of the expedition against Louisboui-g, sailed from
Portsmouth in February. At the verj^ commencement of his voyage
he lost the Invincible, 74, Captain John Bentley, which, missing
stays, ran on a shoal east of St. Helen's and became a total loss.
But the Dublin, 74, was as quickly as possible substituted for
her by the Admiralty ; and she carried out Major-General Jeffi-ey
Amherst, who was to command the mihtary forces. The Dublin
met Boscawen on May 28th, as he was coming out of Halifax with
his fleet ; but, being very sickty, she went on into port, while
Boscawen with his whole force, numbering in aU one hundred and
sixtj'-seven sail of various kinds, made for Gabarus Baj'. The fleet
was dispersed by bad weather, and the main part of it did not reach
the rendezvous until June 2nd. Among the celebrated men who
1758.] CAl'TUltE OF LOUISBOUBG. 183
shared in this expedition were George Brydges Eodncy, Edward
Hughes, later the opponent of Suffren, and James Wolfe, the hero
of Quebec.
The French were found to be well prepared, Louisbourg being
very thoroughly fortified, especially on the sea face. Between the
day of his arrival and January 8th, General Amherst several times
caused the troops to be put into the boats, ready for landing ; but
on each occasion he was compelled by the state of the surf to desist
and to re-embark them. In the interval the enemy was busy on
his defences, and never omitted to fire on the ships when they
ventured within range. On the 8th the army was again put into
the boats ; and it was decided to make three separate attacks.
Those on the centre and right were intended as feints or diversions,
• and were to be made in Freshwater Cove and on White Point
respectively. That on the left was to be the real attack. It was
made under Brigadier-General Wolfe, under cover of the Kenning-
ton, 28, Captain Dudley Digges, and Halifax, 12. The Diana, 36,
Captain Alexander Schomberg, Gramont, 18, Commander John
Stott, and Shannon, 36, Captain Charles Meadows,' covered the feint
in the centre ; and the Sutherland, 50, Captain John Eous, and
Squirrel, 20, Commander John Cleland (1), the feint on the right.
These ships, as soon as they had taken up their stations, began
a hot cannonade ; and, a quarter of an hour later, Wolfe's division
landed in the steadiest manner through the surf under a heavy fire.
Many men were unavoidably drowned through the oversetting of
boats, and much ammunition was wetted ; but the troops, fixing their
bayonets, drove the defenders from their position near the beach ;
and, before night, all the other troops had been landed. Almost
immediately afterwards the wind arose, and communication with the
fleet was cut off for several days. Siege operations were begun on
June 13th, the troops being at first much annoyed by the fire of
the French ships in the harbour. The Admiral landed his Marines
to assist. On the 28th the enemy sank the Apollon, 50, Fidele, 36,
Biche, 16, and Chevre, 16, in the mouth of the harbour to blockade
the entrance ; and on July Uth he made a vigorous but ineffectual
night sortie. On July 21st the Entreprenant, 74, one of the largest
French ships in the harbour, took fire, blew up and set in flames two
' Properly Medows, but the Navy List spelling is Meadows. This geutleman,
afterwards known as Charles I'ierrepont, became Viscount Newark and Earl Mauvers.
He resigned while yet a captain, and died in 1816.
184
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1711-1762.
[1758.
more ships of the hne, the CeUhre, 64, and the Cwpricieux, 64.
All three eventually become total losses. The fire from the two
remaining ships of the line being still troublesome, Boscawen, on
the night of the 25th, sent into the harbour in boats 600 seamen,
under Captains John Laforey and George Balfour ; and these, in
spite of a very fierce fire from the vessels and batteries, executed
their mission. Laforey took the Prudent, 74, which, being aground,
he burnt. Balfour carried the Bieiifaisant, 64, and towed her into
the north-east harbour. This decided the issue. Boscawen was
making preparations to send in six ships of the line, when the
governor proposed terms ; and, after a brief correspondence, the
place was surrendered on the '26th. About 3600 combatants
became prisoners of war ; and 216 guns, besides mortars, were
taken. With Louisbourg was siu-rendered, not only the island of
Cape Breton, but also that of St. John.^ Boscawen sent home
Captain the Hon. George Edgcumbe with the naval dispatches.
The colours which were captured were placed in St. Paul's
Cathedral.
Immediately after the fall of the place, Boscawen sent Bear-
Admiral Sir Charles Hardy (2) , with seven ships of the line, to destroy
the French settlements at Miramichi, Gaspee, etc., General Wolfe
' The island of St. John was renamed Prince Edward's Island in 1709, in lionour
of Prince Edward, Dnke of Kent, and father of H.Jl. Queen A'ictoria.
1758.] BOSCAWEN AND I)U CIIAFFAULT. 185
accompanying him. Some ships were also sent to the island of
St. John, with a garrison for it. General Amherst, who heard at
about that time of the repulse of Abercrombie at Ticonderoga,
embarked six battalions under convoy of the Captain, (54, for
Boston, and then marched for Lake George. Boscawen left Mr.
Durell, who in the meantime had been promoted to be a Kear-
Admiral, with a part of the squadron, to winter in America, and
himself sailed for England. On his passage, his squadron became
separated, so that when, on October 27th, as he was entering
the Soundings, he sighted the French squadron returning from
Quebec under M. du Chaffault, he had with him in company only the
Namur, 90, (flag). Captain Matthew Buckle (1), Boijal William, 84,
C0MMEM0R.4TIVE MEDAL OF THE TAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG, 17.58.
[From nn original liindhj lent bij n.S.H. CiipUiin Friiice Louis of Batteiiberg. Ji.X.)
Captain Thomas Evans, Somerset, 64, Captain Edward Hughes,
Bienfaisant, 64, Captain George Balfour, Boreas, 28, Captain the
Hon. Eobert Boyle Walsingham, Trent, 28, Captain John Lindsay,
Echo, 28, Captain John Laforey, with two fireships ; and the
Bienfaisant was useless, having but a few rounds of powder on
board. The French squadron consisted of the Tonnant, 80,
Intrepide, 74, Heros, 74, Protee, 64, and Belliqiteux, (54, besides a
frigate, and the Carnarvon, a captured British East Indiaman. The
enemy, being on the contrary tack, passed the British squadron, very
near, to leeward ; and, in passing, discharged his broadsides.
Some of the British ships returned the fire ; but, the wind blowing
hard, most of the vessels could not open their lower ports ; and
thus, in this partial action, very little damage was done. Boscawen,
in spite of the superiority of the French, changed his course and
186 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1702. [1758.
stood after them. The night was verj' stormy ; but, on the follow-
ing morning, the enemy was again discovered, though his force
then consisted of only four ships of the line and a frigate, one
ship of the line having evidently lost company in the darkness.
Boscawen also had lost sight of all his frigates. He nevertheless
renewed the chase ; yet, although there was at first no great
distance between the squadrons, the British did not gain ground.
The only prize made was the Carnarvon. The rest of the French
ships got away. One of them, the BelUqueux, was afterwards taken
off Ilfracombe by the Antelope, .50. Boscawen arrived at Spithead
on November 1st.
For their services in North America both Boscawen and Amherst
received the thanks of the House of Commons. The conquest
which had been effected, besides being very important in itself, had
involved a loss to the enemy of six ships of the hne and five frigates,^
and had deprived France of one of her best fisheries, and of a
valuable station for the privateers which long had preyed on the
coast commerce of the American colonies. It paved the way for
future British successes on the North American continent, and
sounded the death knell of the French dominion there. In fact,
just as the raising of the siege of Madras was the turning point of
the struggle in India, so the capture of Louisbourg was the turning
point of the struggle in North America ; and both results were
brought about by the force of sea power.
It has been said that in 1758 a small sqiiadron under Captain
Henry Marsh was despatched against the French settlements in
West Africa. It is curious to note that this belligerent expedition
was first suggested by a Quaker, Mr. Thomas Cumming, who had
been on the coast, and who knew some of the native princes. One
of these had promised his co-operation against Goree and Senegal,
and had undertaken, in case of the success of the adventure, to
grant exclusive trading privileges to British subjects. Cumming
represented that a force of a certain strength would be required for
the service ; but the administration unwisely cut down his estimates,
and repeatedly deferred action, until Mr. Samuel Touchet, an
influential London merchant, warmly seconded the project. The
force finally assigned for the service consisted of the Harwich, 50,
' In addition to the three frigates sunlc in the mouth of the harbour by the enemy,
the Diane (renamed Diana), 36, had been taken by Sir Charles Hardy (2), and tlie
Echo, 28, had been captured by the Juno and Scarborough.
1758.] CAPTURE OF SENEGAL. 187
Commodore Henry Marsh, the Nassau, 64, Captain James Sayer,
the Rijc, '20, Commander Daniel Uering, the Swan, 16, Commander
Jacob Lobb, and the two eight-gun busses, London and Portsmouth,
Commanders Archibald Millar and James Orrok, together with five
small hired vessels carrying from fonr to eight guns apiece. The
troops included 200 Marines under Major Mason, and a detachment
of artillery with ten guns and eight mortars. Mr. Gumming
accompanied the expedition, which sailed from Plymouth on
March 9, 1758.
From Tenerife, where the squadron called for wine and water,
Mr. Cumming, in the Sican, went on in advance to arrange for
assistance from the natives ; but, before he could conclude matters,
the squadron itself arrived on the coast. Marsh decided not to
wait for negotiations, but at once to proceed ; and on April 23rd,
he reached the mouth of the river Senegal, and sighted the
French flag flyiirg on Fort Louis in midstream, twelve miles
above the bar.
The enemy had armed a brig and six sloops, and had placed them
above the bar to defend the channel through it. These much
annoyed the British boats, which went in to sound. In the mean-
time troops were put into the small craft. On the 29th the Swan,
with the busses and armed vessels, weighed and made up the river
with a fair wind. The London, and some of the small craft, were
wrecked on the bar ; but no lives were lost ; and most of the rest of
the vessels got in safely, and made for the enemy's ships, which
promptly retired under the guns of the fort. On May 1st the work
surrendered ; but the actual handing over of the place was delayed,
owing to the action of the natives, w-ho, not thinking that their
interests had been sufficiently secured, blockaded the French. The
difficulty being got over, the fort was occupied. In it ninety-two
guns were found ; and, with it, sixteen craft of various sizes were
given up. The entire estimated value of the capture was about
.£200, 000. Podor, and other stations further up the river, were
included in the capitulation. For his services Mr. Cumming was
granted a pension during his lifetime. These possessions had long
supplied negro slaves to the French settlements in the West Indies ;
and for that reason their loss was soon severely felt.
Commodore Marsh, leaving a few small vessels on the spot,
sailed next to attack Goree, about ninety miles to the southward.
He arrived off the island on May 24th, and at once began a hot
188 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1758.
cannonade, having anchored his ships with springs on their cahles.
But he had miscalcuhited the strength of the defence ; and in ahout
two hours and a half he had to signal his little squadron to cut, as
the rigging and spars, as well as the hulls, were badly mauled, and
about twenty men were killed, and forty wounded. This check was
owing purely to the inadequacy of the force employed ; and towards
the end of the year, the Government sent out a stronger squadron
to complete Commodore Marsh's work. In the meantime the
Nassau, SuKm and Portsmouth returned to England, with such
trade as was bound thither ; and, later, the Bye sailed with a convoy
for the Leeward Islands. Marsh himseK escorted the trade which
was bound for Jamaica.
The new expedition was entrusted to Commodore the Hon.
Augustus Keppel, who hoisted his broad pennant in the Torbay, 74,
Captain Thomas Owen, and who had under him the Nassau, 64,
Captain James Sayer, the Fougueux, Captain Joseph Knight, the
Dunkirk, (iO, Captain the Hon. Eobert Digby, the Lichfield, 50,
Captain Matthew Barton, the Prince Edward, 44, Captain William
Fortescue, the Experiment, 20, Captain John Carter Allen, the
Boman Emperor, 20, Commander William Newsom, the Saltash, 14,
Commander Walter Stirling, and the two bombs, Firedrake,
Commander James Orrok, and Furnace, Commander Jonathan
Faulknor (1). At Cork he picked up troops, under Lieut. -Colonel
Worge, who had been appointed governor of Senegal ; and, after
some delay, he finalh' sailed thence on November 11th, 1758.
In the early morning of November 29th, owing to an error in
reckoning caused by bad weather, the Lichfield ran ashore on the
coast of Marocco, and became a total loss.^ On the same occasion
a transport also went to pieces. On December 28th, after having
made a short stay at Santa Cruz, in the Canaries, the squadron
sighted Goree, and at 3 p.m. anchored in the road in eighteen
fathoms of water, the island bearing S.W. by S. distant about four
miles. The Saltash and the transports containing the troops were
sent into the bay between Point Goree and Point Barrabas ; and,
early on the 29th, the troops from them were disembarked in boats
in readiness to land on the island upon signal being made by the
Commodore. Most of the ships gradually took up their assigned
' There was uiifoi'tunatelj' some loss of life. The survivors were detained b}' the
Sultan of Marocco until ransomed, with other British subjects, for 170,000 doUars.
Captain Barton was tried for the loss of his ship, and honourably acquitted
1758.] CAPTURE OF OOREE. 189
positions on the west or leeward side of Goree, and moored bead
and stern under a heavy fire. At 9 a.m. the attack was begun by
the Prince Edward ; but the cannonade was not general until about
noon, some of the vessels experiencing difficulty in taking up their
stations. The bombardment was then rapidly effective ; for, after
a brief parley, followed by an almost equally short renewal of the
action, the enemy surrendered; whereupon Keppel landed his Marines
to take possession. About three hundred French, and many negroes,
became prisoners of war. The British loss was inconsiderable.
After escorting Colonel Worge to Senegal, and cruising for a short
time off the coast, the Commodore returned to England.
In the Mediterranean Admiral Henry Osl)orn and Eear-Admiral
Charles Saunders commanded. The French had on several occasions
discovered the wisdom and advantage of despatching in winter
their reinforcements of ships and troops for abroad, since they
found that the British blockading squadrons and squadrons of
observation were frequently prevented at that season by fogs or
bad weather from obtaining touch of the outward-bound detach-
ments. But one of their divisions which, under M. de La Clue,
left Toulon in December, 1757, for North America and the West
Indies, was forced by the vigilance of Admiral Osborn into Cartagena,
and was there blockaded. The French Government, in response
to M. de La Clue's representations, sent five ships of the line and
a frigate, under M. Duquesne, to endeavour to join him there, and
then to assist him in breaking the blockade. Two of the line-of-
battleships succeeded in getting in, but the rest of the force was
not so fortunate. On February 28th, off Cape de Gata, Osborn
at daybreak sighted four strange sail near his fleet, and ordered
them to be chased. The French ships separated, but each was
pursued. At 7 p.m. the Revenge, 64, Captain John Storr, brought
the Orphec, 64, to action; and, on the Benrick, 64, coming up,
the enemy struck. In the Bevenge, thirty-three were killed and fifty-
four wounded, among the latter being Captain Storr. The Orphee
was but six miles from Cartagena when she hauled down. Meanwhile
the Monmouth, 64, Captain Arthur Gardiner, the Siviftsure, 70,
Captain Thomas Stanhope, and the Hampton Court, 64, Captain the
Hon. Augustus John Hervey, chased the largest of the enemy, the
Foudroyant, 84, flag ship of Duquesne. The Monmouth, being
far ahead of her consorts, got up with and engaged the enemy
at 8 P.M. and fought her gallanth'. When Gardiner fell his place
190 MAJOlt OPKHATIONS, 1714-17G2. [1758.
was taken by Lieutenant Kobert Carkett,' till 12. 30 a.m., when
the Frenchman's guns were reduced to silence. Not until then
was the Swiftsure able to get up. Captain Stanhope hailed the
foe to know whether she had surrendered, but was answered with
a few guns and a volley of small arms, whereupon he poured in
a broadside and part of a second, and the enemy promptly sur-
rendered. She had 100 killed and 90 wounded, while the Monmouth
lost only 28 killed and 79 wounded. It was a magnificently con-
ducted action, and Lieutenant Carkett was deservedly rewarded
with the command of the prize. ^Vhen measured, at Gibraltar,
she was found to be 185 feet 3 inches in length from stem to
taffrail, and to have a length of keel of 1-5.5 feet. She was thus
about 12 feet longer than the large British first-rates of her day.
Moreover she caiTied 24 and 42-pormders, whereas the Monmouth
was armed only with 12 and 24-pounders.
As for the other French vessels, one, the Orlfiamme, 50, was
driven ashore by the Monarch, 74, Captain John Montagu, and
the Montagu, 64, Captain Joshua Eowley. The last, the Pleiade, 26,
escaped by superior sailing.
Eear-Admiral Saunders was relieved in the spring by Eear-
Admiral Thomas JBroderick (W.), who went out in the Prince
George, 80, Captain Joseph Peyton (1), which was unhappily burnt
by accident on April 13th with a loss of 485 lives. Osborn con-
tinued to blockade the French in Cartagena until he was obliged
to go to Gibraltar to refit, leaving only some frigates to look out
off the port. M. de La Clue then escaped and returned to Toulon.
A little later Osborn, being in bad health, had to resign his
command. He was succeeded by Eear-Admiral Broderick.
The part borne by H.M.S. Seahorse and Sto?nbolo, under
Commodore Charles Holmes, in obliging the French and Austrians
to evacuate Emden in March, 1758, scarcely merits detailed descrip-
tion here. Suffice it to say that the service was creditably performed.
Other events in waters near home must, however, be described at
some length.
Learning in the spring of the year that the French were fitting
out a considerable squadron to escort a convoy to America from
Isle d'Aix, the Admiralty ordered Admiral Sir Edward Hawke to
' Lieutenant, 1745. Captain, for this service, March 12th, 1758. Cominanded
Stirling Castle, 64, iu Byron's action, 1779, and in Rodney's action in the West Indies,
1780, and was lost in her in the hurricane of October lOtli, 1780.
1758.] HAWKi: OFF JSLK D'AIX. VM
endeavour to intercept it. He sailed from S[)itbead on Marcli 11th
with seven ships of the line and three frigates, and on the night
of April 3rd arrived off the island. At 3 o'clock next morning he
steered for Basque Koad, and at daylight sighted a number of
vessels, escorted by three frigates, some miles to windward. He
gave chase but they got into St. Martin, Ehe, except one brig,
which was driven ashore and burnt by the Hussar, 28, Captain
John Elliot. At about 4 p.m. Hawke discovered, lying off Aix,
the French men-of-war Florissant, 74, Sphinx, 64, Hardi, 64,
Dragon, 64, and Wanrick, (JO, l^esides six or seven frigates, and
about forty merchantman, which had on board 3000 troops. At
4.30 the Admiral signalled for a general chase, and at five the
enemy began to slip or cut in great confusion, and to run. At six
the British headmost ships were little more than a gunshot from the
rearmost of the French ; but, by that time, when many of the
merchantmen were already aground on the mud, the pursuers
were in very shoal water ; and, further pursuit being dangerous,
and night coming on, Hawke anchored abreast of the island. On
the morning of the 5th nearly all the French flotilla were seen
aground four or five miles away, several being on their broadsides.
When the flood made the Admiral sent in the Intrepid, 64, Captain
Edward Pratten, and the Medway, GO, Captain Charles Proby,
with his best pilots, as far as the water would serve ; and ordered
them to anchor there. They did so in about five fathoms, of which
three fathoms were due to the rise of the tide. The enemy was
very busy in lightening his ships, and in hauling and towing such of
them as coiild be moved towards the mouth of the Eiver Charente ;
and by evening some of the French men-of-war had been got thither.
The British frigates did what they could, by destroying the buoys
which they had laid down over their jettisoned guns and gear,
to prevent the ultimate salving of the merchaiat vessels. That day
150 Marines were put ashore on Isle d'Aix ; and, under Captain
Ewer, they destroyed the works there and safely re-embarked.
Hawke sailed on the 6th, having effectually prevented the despatch
of supplies to America, and, it may be, so facilitated the conquest
of Cape Breton and its dependencies.
A greater continental expedition, consisting of two squadrons
of men-of-war, and about 14,000 troops, under Lieut. -General the
Duke of Marlborough, was prepared somewhat later in the year.
One naval squadron, which was designed to directly co-operate
192 MAJOR Ol'EBATIONS, 1714-1762. [1758.
with the army, was entrusted to Commodore the Hon. Kichard
Howe. The other squadron, composed of upwards of twenty sail
of the Hne, was commanded by Admiral Lord Anson, having under
him Admiral Sir Edward Hawke. This force was intended to
cruise off Brest and to prevent any French squadron from inter-
fering with the operations of Howe and Marlborough. As on some
previous occasions, the main object of the projected demonstration
on the coast of France was to divert French attention, and, by
calling off troops from elsewhere, to assist the King of Prussia and
other British allies on shore ; but the precise destination of the
armament was kept very secret.
Howe's squadron consisted of one ship of the line, four .50's,
ten frigates, five sloops, two fireships, and two bombs, convoying
one hmadred transports, twenty tenders, ten storeships and ten
cutters ; together with a nmnber of flat-bottomed boats, which
were carried on board the ships, and which were to be used for
the landing of troops. On May 27th the whole armament was
assembled at Spithead. On June 1st Anson weighed and sailed
to the westward ; and Howe soon afterwards made sail and steered
straight across the Channel.
At 8 A.M. on June 2nd, after a stormy but not unfavourable
night, Howe sighted Cape La Hougue. The French were quickly
alarmed, and, from his course, probably formed a shrewd guess as
to his destination. The tides, and the frequent cahns which super-
vened, compelled the British to anchor repeatedlj-, but on June 5th
the entire force stood into Cancale Bay, six miles east of St. Malo.
At 11 A.M. the Duke of Marlborough went in shore in a cutter to
reconnoitre and was fired at. By 2 p.m. all the fleet was at anchor,
and the signal was made for the flat-bottomed boats to be hoisted
out. Howe shifted his broad pennant to the Success, 24, Captain
Paul Henry Ourry, and stood in with the Rose, 24, Captain Benjamin
Clive, Flainhorough, 28, Captain Edward Jekyll, and Diligence, 16,
Commander Joseph Eastwood, to silence the batteries, clear the
beach, and cover the landing. This he did, and then signalled for
part of the troops to disembark. The landing was effected in good
order and without loss, in spite of some musketry fire from the
enemy posted on a hill behind Cancale. These sharpshooters, how-
ever, soon fled as the troops advanced. More soldiers were after-
wards landed, and before dark a large force was ashore. It lay on its
arms for the night. The rest of the army, with the guns and stores.
1758.] EXPKDITWN To (JllEltUOUltG. Ui;j
was landed on the Gth ; and, at dawn on the 7th, the whole of
it except one brigade, that of Major-General the Hon. George
Boscawen, marched away in two columns. It is not intended
here to follow the military movements on shore : it is only necessary
to say that it was ultimately considered impracticable to attempt
St. Malo, and that, after doing a great deal of damage, the army
retm'ned and re-embarked on the lith and I'ith. The loss up to
that time had not been more than thirty killed and wounded.
. Owing to adverse winds, the fleet did not leave Cancale Bay till
June 21st ; and, after crossing and recrossing the Channel, it was
on the '26th close in with Le Havre. It was intended to effect a
landing near that town ; but the enemy was found to be well
prepared. On the '29th, therefore, the fleet bore away before
the wind for Cherboiu-g and anchored two miles from it. The
batteries on shore fired, doing, however, no harm. Preparations
were made for a descent ; but, a gale springing up and blowing on
shore, there was a very great surf, and, when the weather grew
worse, the fleet was in considerable danger. The crowded condition
of the ships had begun to breed sickness ; the horses on board were
almost starving for want of fodder ; and, as nothing was to be gained
by waiting, Howe weighed and re-anchored at Spithead on Jul_y 1st.
The army was immediately landed in the Isle of Wight to refresh
itself. In the course of this expedition the French frigate Giiirlande,
22, was taken by the Benoivn, 32, Captain George Mackenzie, assisted
at the last moment by the Rochester, .50, Captain Eobert Dufl".
Some of the troops in the Isle of Wight were sent to reinforce
the allied army in Germany ; and the remaining part of the military
force was then entrusted to Lieut. -General Thomas Bligh, an officer
who, though he had rendered good service, was then too old for
the command. The squadron, having refitted and been strengthened
by the arrival of the Moiitar/ii, 60, Captain Joshua Eowley, again
sailed on August 1st, when it had re-embarked the troops ; and on
August Gth it anchored in Cherbourg Eoad and was again fired at
from the shore. The defences had been improved since the previous
visit of the fleet, and many troops were in the town. Howe, who
had with him Prince Edward,^ second son of the Prince of Wales,
' H.K.H. Edward Augustus. Bom, 1739; went to sea, 1758; Captain, June 14th,
1759 ; created Duke of York and Albany, 1760 ; Rear- Admiral of the Blue, 1701 ;
second in command in the Channel, with Howe as his flag-captain ; Yice-Admiral
of the Blue, 1762; Commander-in-Chief in the Jlediterranean, 1763; died at Monaco,
September 14th, 1767; buried in Henry the Seventh's Chapel at AVestminster.
VOL. III. O
194 MAJOR OPERATIUNS, 1711-1762. [1758.
serving as a midshipman, accompanied General Bligh to reconnoitre ;
and arrangements were made for a landing. The fleet moved to
Marais Bay early on the 7th, leaving only a frigate and a bomb
before the town. Howe, whose broad pennant was then in the
Pall ax, 'Mi, Captain Archibald Cleveland, signalled to the frigates
and small craft to cover the disembarkation. These drove off the
enemy, and the troops were put ashore with little opposition. All
the infantry had been disembarked by the evening. On the 8th
the cavalry and artillery followed, and a march was begun on
Cherbourg, six miles to the eastward. The place was entered
without any fighting, the enemy retiring from the forts as well
as from the town at the approach of the British. By the 15th, the
pier, works, magazines, etc., had been destroyed, and the various
vessels in harbour had been sunk, burnt, or carried off. On the
16th the army re-embarked, having lost but twenty killed and
thirty wounded, although there had been frequent small skirmishes.
Cherbourg was not then an important naval station, and the
destruction of its harbour was a blow more mortifying than serious
to the French.
The fleet sailed on August 17th, and on the 19th anchored in
Portland Eoad. But the authorities were not satisfied with what
had been done, and a continuation of the operations was ordered.
The fieet, therefore, put to sea again on August 31st, and on
September 3rd anchored in the Bay of St. Lunaire, about six miles
west of St. Malo. On the following day the army landed and
encamped. On the 5th, Bligh detached a small force to burn some
shipping at St. Brieuc ; and, on the same day, the Commodore and
General reconnoitred the bank of the Eiver Eance to see if St. Malo
could be attacked on that side. As the w^est bank w^as found to be
well fortified and held, the design against the town was abandoned.
On the day following, at a council of war, the Commodore stated
that he did not consider it safe to re-enabark the troops in the Bay
of St. Lunaire, as the bottom was rocky and the weather threatened
to be not good ; and he expressed his desire to remove the fleet to
the Bay of St. Cas, and to embark the army there.
The troops therefore marched off on the 7th ; but, mifortunately,
they wasted their time and did not make the best of their w^ay.
They were much harassed by small parties of the enemy in woods
and hedges, and had frequent encounters with organised bodies of
soldiers, losing men continually. On the night of the 9th, the
1758.] THE DISASTER AT ST. CAS. 195
General, whose intelligence service seems to have been almost
non-existent, learnt, to his surprise, of the pn^senco, only three miles
from him, of a large force nndc^r the Due d'Aiguillon. The Bay
of St. Cas was then only four and a half miles off; and an officer
was sent in haste to Howe to inform him that the army would
proceed thither as quickly as possible. The Commodore, in the
early morning, made as good a disposition of his ships as time
permitted, in order to cover the re-embarkation. In the meanwhile,
the- retreat had begun, but it was 9 p.m. ere the heights above the
Bay were gained. The strange error was committed of re-embarking
all the guns and horses before the infantry. Nevertheless, by
11 A.M., two-thirds of the army were on board. At about that time
the enemy's cavalry and infantry appeared, and opened a battery of
guns on those who remained on the beach, doing great execution
there and in the boats. Gradually the French descended from the
hills ; and at last, after a desperate struggle, they seized the village
of St. Cas. There were then on shore only about seven hundred
British under Major-General Dury, whose dispositions and move-
ments were excessively rash. At length the French got close up to
the retiring British, whose ammunition was then exhausted ; and a
rout followed. Part plunged into the sea, part seized and held a rock
on the right of the Bay, whence many were taken off by the boats ;
but the majority had to surrender. The army lost, in killed,
wounded, or taken prisoners, eight hundred and twenty-two officers
and men. Of the naval officers who were superintending the
embarkation. Captains Joshua Rowley, Jervis Maplesden, and
William Paston, and Commander John Elphinstone (1), were taken.
The further naval loss, however, was but eight killed and seventeen
wounded.
The fleet which, under Lord Anson, was intended to cover the
operations under the Hon. Richard Howe and General Bligh, con-
sisted of twenty-two sail of the line and eight frigates. It blockaded
Brest and annoyed the enemy's trade, but returned to Plymouth on
July 19th, without having encountered the French. Sir Edward
Hawke being ill, his place was taken by Rear-Admiral Charles
Holmes. The fleet went back to its station on July '2'2nd, and
in August it was joined by a contingent under Vice-Admiral Charles
Saiinders. The three admirals continued to cruise until the middle
of September, b}^ which time the operations against the French
Channel ports had been concluded. Anson and Holmes returned
o 2
196 MAJOn OPERATIONS, 171!-17(i2. [1759.
to England, leaving Saunders to blockade Brest and to endeavour
to intercept the French squadron which was expected from Que))ec ;
but he did not fall in with it, and himself went Ijack into port in
the middle of December.
In 1759 the French made extraordinary efforts to retrieve their
position at sea, and once more resorted to the old expedient of
threatening an invasion, chiefly with a view to ci-ippling British
activity in distant parts of the world. But the situation of Great
Britain was then in every respect much stronger than in 1756,
when similar tactics had been tried ; and the scheme did not produce
the desired results. British troops were sent from England to the
Continent, to North America, and to the West Indies ; and a most
formidable expedition was organised against Canada ; while, on the
other hand, the French paid so much attention to menacing the
British in the home seas that they almost entirely overlooked
the business of protecting their own dominions abroad.
In the course of the year France assembled three expeditionary
forces : one at Vannes, in Bi-ittany, under the Due d'Aiguillon,
which was to be convoyed to Ireland by a fleet under M. de Conflans
and M. de La Clue ; one on the coast of Normandy, which was to be
despatched from Le Havre against England ; and the smallest of
the three, at Dunquerque, to be convoyed to Scotland or Ii'eland
by M. Thm-ot and six frigates and corvettes. To meet these and
other preparations the militia was embodied, and the following dis-
positions of ships were made. Commodore WiUiam Boys watched
Dmrquerque ; Admiral Thomas Smith (4) ^ and Commodore Sir Piercy
Brett (1) commanded a force in the Downs ; Eear- Admiral George
Brydges Eodney cruised in the Channel, and kept an e3'e on the
ports of Normandy ; and Sir Edward Hawke blockaded Brest.
Elsewhere, Boscawen commanded in the Mediterranean ; Bear-
Admiral Samuel Cornish went with reinforcements to the East
Indies ; the squadron on the Leeward Islands' station was
strengthened by a division under Captain Robert Hughes (2), and
by troops imder Major-General Hopsou ; and Vice- Admiral Charles
Saunders and Major-General Wolfe were despatched against the
' Thomas Smith was called b}' the seamen of his day " Tom o' Ten Thousand,"
because, while first lieutenant of the Gosport, in the absence of the captain, he compelled
a French frigate in Plymouth Sound to lower her topsails by way of salute. For this
act Lieutenant Smith was court-martialled and dismissed the service, but, on the
following day, both restored and posted. Captain, 1730; Eear- Admiral, 1747; Vice-
Admiral, 1748; president of the court-martial on Byng; Admiral, 1757; died, 1762.
1759.] POCOCK AND D'ACEE. J97
French iu Canada. The operations of this important and successful
year in the various parts of the world may now be followed in
greater detail.
In the East Indies, Vice-Admiral Pocock, who had refitted his
squadron at Bombay, sailed for the coast of Coromandel on
April 7th, endeavouring to get thither in advance of the French
fleet, wliich was expected back from Mauritius. He succeeded in
this object, and then cruised to intercept the enemy. On June 80t!i
he was joined by the Grafton, 68, and Stinderland, 60, with five
East Indiamen full of stores, of which he was greatly in need. On
August 3rd he sailed for FondicheiTy, and, during the rest of the
month, cruised off that port, but could learn nothing of the enemy,
and was at length obliged by lack of provisions and water to
proceed to Trincomale. He sailed again thence on September 1st,
having a few days earlier sent the East India Company's frigate,
Beoenge, to cruise off Ceylon and to keep a look-out for the French.
M. d'Ache had reached Mauritius in September, 1758, and had
there found a reinforcement of three sail of the line and several
French East India Company's ships. But provisions were so
scarce that he had to send one of the men-of-war and eight of the
Indiamen to South Africa to purchase supplies. These reached
Cape Town in January, 1759, and returned to Mauritius in April
and May. M. d'Ache was thus enabled to sail on July 17th for
Bourbon and Madagascar, to pick up further stores, and thence
for India. He reached Batticaloa in Ceylon on August 30th, and,
having there learnt something of the movements of the British
squadron, sighted it off Point Pedara ^ on September 2nd. His force
consisted of eleven sail of the line, besides two frigates ; that of
Vice-Admiral Pocock, of only nine sail of the line and one frigate.
On that same day, at about 10 a.m., the Revenge signalled to the
Vice-Admiral that she saw fifteen - sail in the south-east, standing
to the north-east. These were the enemy. Pocock signalled for
a general chase, and stood towards the French under all possible
sail ; but, the wind faihng, the British were unable to get up. In
spite of his great superiority, d'Ache apparently did all that lay in
his power to avoid an action, although Pocock was equally anxious
to provoke one. After much fruitless manoeuvring the French were
lost sight of, and Pocock then stood to the north for Pondicherry,
' Called also Point Palmyra. It is the X.E. jioiut of Ceylon.
- It does not appear that there were really more than thirteen.
198
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 17U-17G2.
[1750.
where he expected to find his foe. He arrived off that place in the
early morning of the 8th, but saw no ships in the roadstead. At
1 P.M., nevertheless, he sighted the enemy's fleet to the south-
east. He was then standing to the northward with a sea breeze.
On the morning of the 9th, the French were again visible ; and
at 2 P.M., the wind springing up, the Vice- Admiral once more
signalled for a general chase. Two hours later the enemy appeared
to have formed a line of battle abi-east, and in that formation bore
down. But no action resulted.
At 6 A.M., however, on September 10th, the French bore S.E.
by S., distant eight or nine miles, sailing in hne of battle ahead on
the starboard tack. Pocock,^ in line of battle abreast, bore down
on them with the wind about X.W. by W. At 10 a.m. the enemy
wore, and formed a line of battle ahead on the larboard tack ; and
an hour afterwards Pocock did the same, the Elizabeth leading.
The action was begun on the British side by Eear-Admiral Stevens,
who, in the Grafton, attacked the Zodiaque. The tactics of the
day present no features of special interest ; and the action is
chiefly remarkable for the fury with which it was fought ; for the
fact that, owing to various defects, two of the British ships were
able to take only a very insignificant part in the engagement ; and
because, in the evening, the whole of the superior French squadron
bore away and stood to the S.S.E. under a crowd of sail. Most
of the British ships were far too damaged to be able to pursue ;
' Order of battle (on the starboard tack) of the British and French squadrons in the
East Indies in the action of September 10th, 175!i: —
Bkiii.sh.
FliEXCH.
Ships.
Guus.
Commanders.
Ships.
Guns,
Commandei-^.
KUzaheth . . .
64
Capt. Richard Tiddeman.
Actif ....
61
A'eitxastle .
50
„ Colin llichie.
Minotaure . . .
74
Tiger
60
„ William Breretoii.
Ouc d'Orliang . .
60
Capt. de Surrille (2).
[Reav-Admiral Charles
St. Loms . . .
60
Gm/ton ....
1 Stevens (R).
Vertgetir . . .
64
,, de La Palliere.
iCapt. Richard Ivempeu-
Lieut.-General Comte
( felt.
Zodiaqve . . .
74
■. d'Ache.
Capt. de La Chaise.
iVice-Admiral George
i Pocock CR).
(Capt. John Harrison.
Yarm(nith .
66
Comte de Provence.
74
Due de Bourgofjue.
60
., Bouvet(2).
Cumbeilaml i . .
5S
r „ John .Stukley
\ Somerset.
Illustre ....
Fortune ....
f4
64
Salisbun/ . . .
60
„ Digbv I >ent (3).
Ctntaurc
TO
., de Surrille (1).
Sunderland . . .
eo
f „ Hon. .Tames Col-
( ville.
Si/lphide.
;:(;
Weymouth . . .
60
1 „ Sir 'Hilliam Baird,
I Bart.
Itiligeutc . .
■J 4
Quft^nborougli .
■2.
„ R..I.ert Kiik.
1 Had been a 66-iiuu sbip, but \va^ reduced tu a 5^ to ease ber.
17;-)!).] D'AOnf: QUITS THE FIELD. 109
and, having ordered the llcrciKjc to oljserve the motions of the
French, Pocock lay to on the larljoard tack to enable his most
shattered vessels to repair damages. At dawn on September 11th
the French were seen in the S.S.E., about twelve miles away,
lying to on the larboard tack, the wind being about west. On
perceiving the British, they at once wore and brought to on the
other tack, and so continued until evening, when they were so far
off that they were almost out of sight. At that time, the wind
veering to the east, Pocock signalled his shijis to wear, and stood
. under easy sail to the south-west ; the Sunderland towing the New-
castle, the Weijmoutlt the Tiger, and the Eli.itiheth the Cumhcrland.
The loss sustained by the French in the engagement was, all
things considered, enormous, amounting, as it did, to nearly 1500
killed and wounded. Among the killed were the captains of the
Zodiaque and Centaure, and among the woiinded was d'Ache himself.
The French made for Pondicherry. The loss on the British side
was also very heavy, being 5G9 killed and wounded, including 184
who were either killed outright or died of their wounds. Among
the killed was Captain Colin Michie of the Neu-castle, and among
the wounded were Captain Somerset of the CumhcrhDid and Captain
Brereton of the Tiger.
On September l-')th the British anchored in the Eoad of
Negapatam ; and, having hastily completed their refitting, Pocock
sailed with his ships again on the '20th. On his way to Madras he
had to pass Pondicherry, where the French were lying ; and, un-
willing to pass it by night, or to do anything to prevent M. d'Ache
from fighting another action, he so arranged matters as to appear off
the town at daybreak on September 27th. There he lay with the
wind about W.S.W., with his maintopsails to the mast, and with
but just sufficient steerage way on his ships for the proper main-
tenance of the line. Thus the British drifted slowly to leeward, yet
not until Pocock had given d'Ache the fullest possible opportunity
to come out and light. But the latter had no such intention ; and,
after weighing and making a few meaningless demonstrations, he
returned to port and there announced his intention of sailing
immediately for Mauritius. He carried out this determination on
September 30th, in spite of the anxious remonstrances of the shore
authorities, and especially of M. de Lally. His principal motive for
thus acting seems to have been his knowledge that Pocock was
about to be reinforced by four ships of the line from England.
200 MAJOR OFEJtATIONS, 1714-1762. [1759.
Pocock, being short of water and stores, and with ships in
bad condition, returned to Madras, where he anchored on Sep-
tember 28th. Thence he sailed on October IGth for Bombay,
and on the 17th fell in with Eear- Admiral Samuel Cornish, with
three ships of the line, one .50-gun ship,' and three East Indiamen,
which last, and the troops which had been brought out as reinforce-
ments, were sent on to Madras escorted by the Queenhorough. They
reached that place on October 27th. Pocock proceeded to Bombay,
and, after making various dispositions, sailed on April 7th, 17G0, for
England with a very valuable convoy, arriving in the Downs on
September 22nd following. He left behind him Eear-Admirals
Stevens and Cornish.
Alluding to this last action, Mahan, after referring to the
numerical superiority of the French, says :
" The fruits of victory, liowever, were with tlie weaker fleet, for d'Ach^ returned to
Pondicherry and thence sailed on the 1st of the next month for the islands, leaving
India to its fate. From that time the result was certain. The English continued to
receive reinforcements from home, while the French did not ; the men opposed to Lally
were superior in ability; place after place fell, and in January, 1761, Pondicherry
itself surrendered, surrounded by land and cut off from the sea. This was the end of
French power in India ; for though Pondicherry and other possessions were restored at
the peace, the English tenure there was never again shaken, even under the attacks of
the skilful and bold Suffren, who twenty years later met difticulties as great as d' Ache's
with a vigour and conduct which the latter at a more hopeful moment failed to show." ''
Vice- Admiral Pocock was desen-edl}' made a K.B. for his ser^nces
and promoted to be Admiral of the Blue.
Such naval successes as the French won in the East after the
departure of Pocock were confined to the capture of the East India
Company's factory at Gombroon in the Persian Gulf, and the
reduction of certain British settlements in Sumatra. These successes
' Reinforcement which reached A'ice-Adniiral Pocock in the East Indies in
October, 175!:i :—
Sliip?.
GUD.>.
CMiiimaiiderb.
Lenox .....
74
1 Hear- Admiral Samuel Cornish (B.).
\C'aptain Robert Jocelyn.
Due iVAr/uitainf
64
Sir William Hewitt, Bart.
York .....
60
,, Vincent Pearce (2).
Fahiiouth ....
.",0
„ Richard Hughes (3).
■ hiti. of Sea Power," 310.
1759.]
FIASCO AT MARTINIQUE.
201
were merely raids, without iiilluence on tlio course of the war or on
the future of Franco-British commercial rivalry. The Dutch, seeking
to profit by the temporary difficulties of the British, attempted, witli
seveir East Indiamen and some troops from Batavia, to seize Chinsura
on the Ganges, but were checkmated by the energy of Colonel Clive,
Governor of Bengal, and by the gallantry of the masters of 'several
British East Indiamen, who, under AVilson of the Calcutta, took or
drove off the enemy on November '24th, 1759, after a sharp action.
The captured Dutch vessels were afterwards returned to their owners,
on security being given for the payment of £100,000 damages.
The British force on the Leeward Islands' station, under Commo-
dore John Moore, was strengthened by eight ships of the line under
Captain Eobert Hughes (2), and by troops under Major-General
Hopson, in order that the force might reduce some of the French
Caribbee Islands, which were supposed to be weakly garrisoned.^
The troops left England in November, 1758, under convoy of Captain
Hughes, and reached Carlisle Bay, Barbados, in January, 1759.
There Commodore Moore was met with. On the 13th of that mouth
the whole force sailed for Martinique, and on the afternoon of the
15th entered Fort Eoyal Bay. On the morning of the 16th the
Bristol, 50, Captain Leshe, and the Ripon, GO, Captain Jekyll,
silenced and occupied a fort on Negro Point. The Winchester, 50,
Captain Le Cras, Woolwich, 44, Captain Peter Parker (1), and
Boebuch, 44, Captain Thomas Lynn, cannonaded the batteries in the
Bay of Cas des Navires, where it was intended to disembark troops.
^ List of tlie British fleet on the Leeward Islands" station un<ler Connuodore .John
Moore in 175!) : —
^bips.
Cambridge .
St. George .
Norfolk .
Buclcinghavi
Burford
Berwick.
Lion .
Ripon
Panther
Winchester .
Brislot . .
90
74
70
70
64
60
CO
00
50
50
Commanders,
'Commodore Johu Moore.
.Capt. Thomas Burnett.
,, Clarke Caytou.
„ Eoljcrt Hughes (a).
„ l!ichardTyn-ell.i
„ James Gambier(l).
,, William Harmau.
,, William Tre-
lawney.
„ Edward Jekyll.
„ Molyneux bhuld-
ham.
,, Edward Le Cras.
,, Lachliii Leslie.-
Ship^
Woolwich .
Jtoebuck .
l.wllmo Castle .
Jienoum .
Amazon ■
line ....
Bouetta .
WeazH .
Antigua .
Spi/ ....
Kingfisher, bomh
Falcon, bomb .
fj'rcnadii, bomb
Infernal, liouib
44
44
40
32
26
20
14
14
13
10
Commandeif.
Capt. Peter Parker (1).3
Thomas Lvnu.
Edward Clark(l).<
George Mackenzie.
William Nortou.
Daniel Dering.
Richard King (1).
Com. John Boles.
AVeston Varlo.
"William Bayiie.
Sabine Deacou.
Mark Robiuson(l).
Samuel V vedale.
James Slackeuzie.
' Later, Capt. Lachliu Leslie. ~ Later, Capt. Peter Parker (1). a Later, Capt. Daniel Dering.
■• Brought out the second battalion of the P.oyal Highlanders from Scotland.
The above were eventually joined by the Lancaster, CG, Captain Eobert Mann (2),
the Emerald, 28, and the Griffon, 28.
202 MA.JOn UPERATIONS, 1714-17G2. [1759.
A lauding was effected at about 4 p.m. under Captains Molyneux
Shuldham, James Gambier (1), and Thomas Burnett; and, by the
following morning, nearly the whole army was ashoi'e. But against
4400 British, available for the service, there were at least 10,000
French, including their militia ; and, after some small operations
had been attempted. General Hopson, despairing of success, with-
drew his troops to the transports.
The expedition then proceeded to St. Pierre, the capital of the
island. But, on his arrival off that place on the 19th, the Commodore
did nothing except send in the liipon, 60, Captain Jekyll, to attack
some batteries, the reduction of which would not in the least have
influenced the general fate of the island. Jekyll was quite un-
supported; and, having fought from 2 till 4.30 p.m. with great
gallantry and silenced one battery, he was obliged to cut his cable
and tow off. The position of the liijjoii was for some time not
unlike that of the Formidable under Captain de St. Bon at the
attack on Lissa in 1866. She narrowly escaped grounding, and
could not entirely get clear till 6 p.m. Jekyll behaved magnificently.
It was then decided to abandon the attempt on Martinique, and
to attack Guadeloupe ; and on the morning of the 20th the squadron
sailed to the northward. By noon on the 22nd it was off Basse
Terre. After the town had been reconnoitred and a council of war
held, it was determined that on the morning of January 23rd the
citadel and various batteries of Basse Terre should be cannonaded
and, if possible, silenced, by the Lion, 60, Captain William
Trelawney, St. George, 90, Captain Clarke Gayton, Norfolk, 74, Cap-
tain Eobert Hughes (2), Canihridge, 80, Captain Thomas Burnett,
bearing the broad pennant of Commodore Moore, Panther, 60,
Captain Molyneux Shuldham, Burford, 70, Captain James Gam-
bier (1), Bericid,-, 64, Captain William Harman, and Bipon, 60,
Captain Edward Jekyll. The last named got aground, and was
again in the greatest danger, mitil relieved by the Bristol and
Boehucl'. At about 5 p.m. the enemy's fire was silenced. Neverthe-
less, the town w^as rather wantonly destroj^ed on the following day
by the fire of the tour bomb ketches. Indeed, Commodore Moore
exerted from the first much unnecessary force. He might have
landed his troops a little to the north of the town, and so captured
the place, which was open on the land side ; but he preferred the
useless and risky expedient of opposing his ships to forts. In the
action, however, only about thirt}' men were killed and about sixtj'
1759.] CAPTUliK OF GUADELOUPE. 203
wounded, among the latter being Captain Trelawney, of the Lioit.
Commodore Moore, of course, gained his object ; and on the 24th
the army was put ashore and Basse Terre and Fort Koyal were
occupied. The advantage was, unfortunately, not pressed ; and the
French governor retired to the mountainous interior of the island,
and was there able to make a most courageous stand for iipwards of
three months.
During the interval, the Commodore detached the Boehuck, 44,
Captain Lynn, the Winchester, 50, Captain Le Cras, the Berwick, 64,
Captain Harman, the BantJier, 60, Captain Shuldham, the Wool-
wich, 44, Captain Dering, and the Beiioivn, 32, Captain Mackenzie,
under Captain Harman ; and this force, on February 13th, made
itself master of Port Louis on the Grande Terre side of the island.
But the guerilla warfare and comparative inactivitj^ played havoc
with the troops. There were great numbers of sick ; and many of
them had to be sent to Antigua. On February 27th General Hopson
died, and was succeeded in the chief military command by Major-
General the Hon. John Barrington. This officer was beginning to
take somewhat more energetic measures than had previously been
displayed, when the army was partially deprived of the assistance
of the fleet in consequence of the arrival in the West Indies of
M. de Bompart, with five ships of the line and three large frigates,
containing troops intended for the relief of the French islands.
Commodore Moore felt it necessary to proceed to Prince Eupert's
Bay in the Island of Dominica, so that he might be in a position to
watch and promptly follow the motions of the enemy, who lay in
Great Bay, Fort Royal, Martinique. The operations on shore were
thereafter conducted chiefly by the army. The inevitable capitula-
tion was signed on May 1st, M. de Bompart not having interfered.
Nevertheless, after Guadeloupe had suiTendered, he made a brief
descent upon the island, and then, learning the truth, returned to
Martinique. Moore heard of this movement of the Freirch squadron,
and put to sea in search of the enemy ; but he failed to find him,
and once more anchored in Prince Eupert's Bay. After the capture
of Guadeloupe, General Barrington summoned, and received the
surrender of, Marie Galante, the Saintes, La Desirade and Petite
Terre. A little later Moore, reinforced by the Baisounable, 64, and
the Nassau, 64, proceeded to Basse Terre Eoad, and, on June 2.jth,
despatched part of the army to England under convoy of the
Boebuck.
204 MAJOR OFERATIONS, 1711-1762. [1759.
Their inferiority oi' force prevented the French from attempting
anything of importance against either the British fleet or the British
garrisons in the West Indies ; and, as no French fleet put to
sea, Moore had subsequently to confine himself to repressing the
enemy's privateers and to protecting British trade. On the Jamaica
station, where Vice-Admiral Cotes still commanded, the situation
was very similar ; and, though useful work was done by the cruisers,
no event of importance happened.
In North America the plans which had been formulated by the
Earl of Loudoun during his commandership-in-chief continued to
be carried out after his supersession ; and, in pursuance of these,
four considerable expeditions were entered upon in 1759, the object
of all being the ending of French rule in Canada. Three of these
expeditions, one against Fort Niagara, under Brigadier-General
Prideaux ; one against the French settlements on Lake Erie, under
Brigadier-General Stanwix ; and one under Major-General Amherst
against Crown Point and Ticonderoga, were mainly military. The
fourth, under Vice-Admiral Charles Saunders and Major-General
Wolfe, against Quebec, was fully as much naval as mihtary. All,
however, were parts of a single scheme, which was designed to
occupy the French in several quarters simultaneously, and so to
prevent them from concentrating their full strength at any one
point. The various expeditions were intended ultimately to assist
one another ; but that all the schemes did not accurateh" dovetail
as originallj- intended is only natural. That mistakes should be
committed and that there should be in some cases lack of fore-
sight and of due preparation, were matters of course. Yet, in
spite of local insuccesses, the great combined undertaking was
in its results triumphant, thanks largely' to Saunders and, above
all, to Wolfe.
Prideaux's force of about 5000 men started on May 20th from
Schenactady iip the Mohawk Kiver, and so, amid great difficulties,
to Oswego on Lake Ontario ; whence, leaving there a detachment,
it crossed the lake and reached Niagara on July 6th. In the
operations General Prideaux was killed by accident, and the com-
mand devolved upon the Colonial colonel. Sir WilHam Johnson,
Bart., who, after defeating a relieving force of the enemy, received
the surrender of the fort on July 25th. Johnson, being short of
ammunition and supplies, then returned to Oswego, where he
relinquished his command to Brigadier-General Gage, who built a
1750.] INVASION OF CANADA. 205
fort there, while Captain Joshua Loriiig, U.K., superintended the
construction of two large vessels for the navigation and command
of Lake Ontario and the Kiver St. Lawrence.
The expedition under General Stanwix was completely success-
ful, but it was so purely a military one that there is no need to
describe its operations here.
The expedition under General Amherst against Crown Point and
Ticonderoga was in many respects a large and powerful one ; yet it
should have included a great number of ship's carpenters, and
quantities of supplies for the creation of a naval force on Lake
Champlain. This provision was, however, overlooked. About
June 1st, the army was assembled at Fort Edward, and on
June 11th it marched to the banks of Lake George. Such boats
and radeaux as could be built were of an unsatisfactory nature ;
but at length a motley flotilla was collected, and the army embarked
and proceeded down the Lake. On June '22nd the troops were landed
near the Second Narrows and advanced against Ticonderoga, which
on the 25th was evacuated and blown up, the enemy retiring on
Crown Point. The boats and radeaux were then laboriously got
into Lake Champlain. On August 1st, Amherst learnt that Crown
Point had been abandoned ; and on the 4th he occupied it. He at
once set to work to endeavour to put a suitable naval force on Lake
Champlain, so that he might be able to press on and effect a
junction with the force under Wolfe. But, owing to the lack of
preparations, there were delays ; and, although the Freiich force on
the Lake was in part taken or destroyed, the approach of winter
obliged Amherst at the end of October to cut short his advance and
to return to Crown Point. Thus, both Prideaux and Amherst, who
were to have held forth helping hands to Wolfe, failed, perhaps
through no fault of their ovra. Only Stanwix, whose object was
rather diversion than actual and immediate co-operation, completel}'
gained his end. It is not the least of AVolfe's merits that, in spite
of the lack of expected help, but with the cordial co-operation of the
Navy, he brought to a triumphant conclusion the most important
and difficult expedition of the four.
Wolfe had with him ten battalions of infantry, three companies
of grenadiers and some companies of artillery and rangers, about
9200 men in all. The fleet, which was to convoy and support the
force, was under Vice-Admiral Charles Saunders and Bear-Admirals
Philip Durell (1) and Charles Holmes, and consisted of twenty sail of
20G
MAJOIi OPERATIONS, 1714-1762.
[1759.
the line, two fifty-gun ships ami numerous frigates and small craft.'
Part of this fleet was already on the North American station under
Durell, and had wintered at Halifax. As soon as the season per-
mitted, Durell had entered the Kiver St. Lawrence, and on May 23rd
got lip as far as Isle Bic. Holmes went out from England to
Halifax early in the year 1759 to forward preparations ; and on
February 17th Saunders and Wolfe sailed from Spithead. The
main body of the expedition was gradually assembled at Louisbourg
in the island of Cape Breton ; and there it was joined by the troops
in ganison. On June 1st it began to leave the harbour ; and on the
23rd the fleet found Eear-Admiral Durell near Isle Coudres, and
obtained from him some French pilots whom he had secui'ed by a
ruse. Durell, reinforced, was left off Isle Coudres to bar the river,
and Saunders, hoisting his flag in the Stirling Castle, 64, Captain
Michael Everitt, proceeded, and on Jime "ifith anchored off Isle
d'Orleans, a few miles below Quebec.
The Marquis de Montcalm, who defended the city, had taken all
possible precautions, and had removed the buoys and marks. His
main army was about 14,000 strong, and lay at Beauport, to the
immediate north-east of Quebec. Detachments of it were posted
down the river at points whence it was expected that the advancing
' List nf the British tieet employed on the expedition to Quebec, 17."<;i : —
Ships.
Gims.
Commauders.
Ships.
Guns.
[ Commaudets.
iVice-AUmiml Charles
> Saunders (B).
leapt. Brwirick Hartwell.
i
Trent ....
28
Capt. John Lindsay.
yeptune . . .
90
1 Lizard ....
28
., James Jjoake.
Eclio
28
,, John I^forey.
(Eear-Admiral Philip
Lowestoft . . .
28
,, Joseph Deane.
Pi-i7icess Amtlia .
80
\ DureUCOCE).
Seahorse. . . .
24
„ James Smith.
ICapt. John Bray.
Scarborough . .
24
., John Stott.
|Eear-Admir.il Charles
JEurus
20
f „ John Elphinstone
Dublin ....
U
<^ Hi,lmes(W).
(Capt. William Goostrey.
Nightingale. . .
20
( „ James Campbell
t (2).
Hoijdl Williavi. .
SI
„ HnghPigot(lV
Terrible ....
74
„ Richard l'oUius(l).
Bimd
20
„ Robert Bond.
Shrewsbury . .
74
„ Hngh Palliser.
Squirrel ....
20
„ <ieorge Hamilton.
yorthuviberlan'i .
70
f „ Alex. Lord Col-
l Tille.
Foxvey ....
20
f „ George Anthony
I Tonm.
Vanguard . . .
70
„ Robert Swantoii. i
Scorpion. . . .
14
Com. John Cleland (1).
Devonshire . . .
66
,. William Gordon.
Porcuj/ine . . .
14
„ John Jervis.
Orfuril ....
66
„ Richard Sprj'.
Hunter ....
10
f ,, William Adams
I (2).
Somerset, . . .
64
„ Edward Hughes.
Mcide ....
64
„ Jame* Douglas (1).
Zephyr ....
10
f „ William Grecn-
1 wood.
lleAforA ....
64
,, Tholl.e Fowke.
Caiitain ....
64
„ John Amher.st.
Baltimore, bomb .
8
, Robert Carpenter.
Trident ....
64
,, Julian Legge.
Pelican, Iwinib . .
8
,, Edward iMountford.
Stirling Castle. .
64
„ Michael Everitt.
Jiacehorse, bomb .
8
,. Francis Richards.
I*nnce Fredericlc .
64
„ Robert Bonth.
Vesuvius, f.s. .
16
„ .lames Chads.
Medway ....
60
„ Charles Probv,
Cormorant, f.s.
16
,. I'atiick ^lonat.
Pembroke . . .
6U
„ John Wheelock.
Strombolo, f.s. . .
16
Lieut. Richard Smith.
Prince of Orange .
60
„ .^amuel Wallis.
Basra v-en, a.s. .
16
Com. Charles Doughis.
Centurion . . .
50
„ WiUiam Mantell.
Halifax, a.s. . .
12
Lieut.
Sutherland . . .
00
32
„ John Rous,
f „ Alexander Schom-
l berg.
Bodney, cotter . .
4
(Lieut. Hon. Philip Tufton
I Perceval.
Diana ....
Croivn, st.s. . .
18
Com. Joseph Mead.
Richmond . . .
32
f „ Thomas Hanker-
l son.
hesidf
s trans
^oi-ts, etc.
1759.] ATTACK ON QUKJiEC. 2U7
British could be annoyed. He luid also thrown up strong works on
the north side of the river, between the Kiver St. Charles and the
Falls of Montmorency, and had armed two hulks in the Eiver
St. Charles to defend the communications with the army and
Quebec. The Governor of the Province, Captain de Vaudreuil,
was, however, a naval officer, while the Marquis de Montcalm was
a soldier ; and there was not a good miderstanding between them.
Montcalm prudeirtly desired to make his preparations with a view
to . the necessity of a retreat ; but de Vaudreuil maintained that
such precautions were needless, and that if the whole French force
were concentrated on the north side of the river, the worst the
British could do would be to demolish some of the houses in
the city.
On June 27th, the British army landed on Isle d'Orleaus and the
French defences were reconnoitred. Towards night the ships were
disposed to the best advantage, and measures were taken to prevent
damage from the enemy's fireships, which were known to be in
readiness higher up. A certain number of Marines had been taken
from those ships which had been left at Isle Coudres under Durell,
and these were distributed throughout the fleet. At midnight on
June '28th, the French sent down seven fireships and two fire rafts ;
but they were grappled and towed clear by the activity and good
conduct of the seamen. Vice-Admiral Saunders then decided to
move some of his vessels into the open space of water immediately
below the town, known as the Basin of Quebec ; and, to afford them
some protection, he induced General Wolfe to order the occupation
of Point Levis by Brigadier-General Monckton. The enemy tried
to dislodge this force on July 1st by means of floating batteries, but
in vain. The batteries were driven back by the fire of the Trent, 28,
Captain John Lindsay. Ultimately some large ships were stationed
a httle higher up the river. Above these were frigates ; and again
above them armed boats rowed guard every night. The enemy
thereupon ordered such ships as he had up to Batiscan, sixty miles
above Quebec, but kept most of their crews in the city to assist in
working the guns. Batteries were erected on Point Levis to
bombard Quebec, and, the works on Isle d'Orleans having been com-
pleted, Wolfe, on July 9th, embarked his troops, and under convoy
of the Porcupine, 14, Commander John Jervis, and the Boscawen,
armed ship, 16, Commander Charles Douglas, effected a landing on
the north shore of the river below the falls of Montmorencv.
208 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1759.
On July IBtli the Sutherland, .50, Captain John Kous, the
Squirrel, 20, Captain George Hamilton, two armed sloops, and two
transports, passed the town without loss, and gained the upper river.
On July 31st, supported by the fire of the Centurion, 50, Captain
William Mantell, an attempt was made to land troops below the
enemy's entrenchments ; but the force had to be drawn off to the
beach. Some efforts were then made to destroy the French ships
above the town and to open communication with General Amherst,
who was supposed to be advancing from Crown Point. The Lowes-
toft, 28, Captain Joseph Deane, the Hunter, 10, Commander
William Adams (2), two armed sloops, and two storeships, passed
up to co-operate ; but it was found that the force could not be got
further than about thirtj' miles above Quebec.
On August 29th, the Seahorse, 24, Captain James Smith, two
more armed sloops, and two more storeships, were sent past the
town in preparation for a projected attack on Quebec from the west.
Eear-Admiral Holmes took command of the flotilla on the upper
river. On the night of September 4th, all the flat-bottomed boats
and many vessels passed the towTi ; and as manj- troops as could be
spared were sent up with them. On the evening of the 12th, all the
boats remaining below" the town were filled with Marines ; and on
the following morning at break of day they made a feint of landing
on the northern shore below the city, under cover of the fire of the
frigates and sloops. Troops had been alreadj- got into the boats on
the upper river, where Wolfe himself then was ; and in the starlight
they moved still further up, a French corps under M. de Bougain-
ville ^ marching parallel with them along the north bank. An hour
before daylight the boats turned and rowed down at gi^eat speed,
current and ebbing tide being both in their favour, and were followed
by the ships. The whole force quite outstripped the French, who
attempted to keep up with it. Just as day .was breaking the boats
arrived eastward of Sillery, a short distance above Cape Diamond,
those containing the light infantry falling a little lower down.
There the attacking force disembarked at the foot of a woody
precipice, scaled the height, and dispersed the guard on the summit ;
■^ Louis Aiitoine de Bougainville. Born, 1729 ; began life as a lawyer ; secretary
to the French embassy in London, 1755 ; had previously, in 1752, been elected a
Fellow of the Eoyal Society for a treatise on the integral calculus ; aide-de-camp to
Montcalm in Canada ; founded a French colony in the Falkland Islands, 1763 ; circum-
navigated the globe, 1766-68 ; commanded at sea during the war of American Revolu-
tion; vice-admiral, 1791; made a senator by Xapoleon; died, 1811.
1759.] CAPTURE OF QUKBEC. 209
and presently the whole army was pouring up the steep slopes, and
forming on the top, to await the approach of the main body of the
French, who, under Montcalm, were seen to be in motion.
The action began early. At 8 a.m. the sailors dragged up a gun,
which was most useful. By 10 the battle had become very general,
the enemy advancing with courage to within thirty yards, but then
wavering under the British fire, and being followed up with the
bayonet. It was at that time that AVolfe, at the head of the Louis-
bom-g Grenadiers, received a second wound, which proved mortal.
The Marquis de Montcalm was also fatally wounded. After some
further fighting, the French retreated to the city. General the
Hon. George Townshend, who succeeded to the command, fortified
the position which had been won. Additional ships were brought
up ; and batteries were being erected to bombard Quebec, when, on
the 17th, the enemy offered to surrender. The Vice-Admiral and
General, and the French commandant, signed the capitulation on the
morning of the 18th. Later in the day the upper town was taken
possession of by troops under Lieut. -Colonel Murray, and the lower
town by seamen, under Captain Hugh Palhser, E.N. The Vice-
Admiral's dispatches were sent to England by Captain James
Douglas (1), of the Alcide, who was knighted by the King, and
presented with ^500 wherewith to buy a sword. Throughout the
British dominions a public thanksgiving was ordered. Wolfe's
body was sent home in the Boyal William, 84, and a monument to
his memory was erected at the national expense in Westminster
Abbey.
Saunders sent back to England his larger ships under Holmes
and Durell, and followed in October, leaving Captain Lord Colville
in command, with his own ship (the Nortlmmherland, 70), the
Alcide, 64, the Trident, 64, the Pembroke, GO, the Prince of
Orange, 60, and several frigates, in North America. The Eace-
horse, bomb, Commander George Miller (1), and Porcupine, 14, Com-
mander John Macartney, were left to winter at Quebec.
After the British fleet had retired, the French ships at Batiscan
also fell down the river, waiting at Cape Eouge for a fair wind to
carry them past the batteries of Quebec. On November 2'2nd, three
of them, the merchantmen Soleil Boyal, 24, Senecterre, 24, and Due
de Fronsac, 24, drove ashore in a gale and were lost. On the 24th,
in the night and on the ebb, the rest came down with a favourable
breeze ; and, although the garrison was ready for them, and every
VOL. III. p
210 MAJOR OrEIiATIONS, 1714-17C2. [1759.
possible gun was fired at them, they all got past safely except one,
another merchantman, the Elisabeth, which took the ground on the
south side of the river. Her crew made preparations for blowing
her up, and then with the assistance of the crews of the merchant-
men Macliault, 24, and Chezine, 22, boarded and carried a British
schooner in which they escaped. On the following morning Com-
mander Miller, of the Racehorse, went on board the Elisabeth, and
ordering a light to be struck, inadvertentl}- blew up the ship and
destroyed most of his party. He and his lieutenant survived to
be removed, but were so fearfully injured that they died within a
few days.
The campaign was a most successful one, chiefly because the
French had made but faint efforts to divert British attention from
the main objects which were kept in view by Mr. Pitt. On the
other hand, the British would not allow their attention to be
diverted in the shghtest degree. Beatson rightly observes that : —
" liad M. de Boiupart, when he found he coidd not prevent the island of Guadeloupe
fi'oni falling into our hands, steered for Xew York with his squadron, he might have
made such an imjjression there as would have obliged General Amherst either to come
himself, or at least to make such a detachment from his army as would jierhaps have
disabled him from acting on the offensive for the remainder of the campaign. From
Xew York, M. de Borapart might have gone to Halifa.':, or St. .John's, Xewfoundland,
or both. An attack on either of these pJaces would have obliged Admiral Saunders to
make such a detachment from his fleet as might have greatly diminished our eflbrts
before Quebec, and, perhaps in the end, would have proved the ruin of the enterprise;
while before such detachment covdd have been able to overtake jNI. de Bompart, he
might have done his business, and sailed for Europe."
It was of course ine\'itable, when France was straining all her
resources in order to invade Great Britain and Ireland, and when
there were no considerable British forces in the Mediterranean, that
she should endeavoiu- to collect as large a naval force as possible at
Toulon, and then to send it round to join her main fleet at Brest.
Vice-Admiral Broderick commanded in the Mediterranean. Early
in the spring of 1759 his small squadron was reinforced by several
ships from England, and he received, and w^as able to cany out,
orders to watch Toulon. But Pitt was not content with merely
reinforcing the Mediterranean fleet. On April 14th, Admiral the
Hon. Edward Boscawen, with three more sail of the Une and some
frigates, left Spithead to take over for a time the chief command on
the station, and on April 27th he arrived at Gibraltar. There he
made arrangements as to the dispositions of criusers and convoys ;
1750.] BOSCAWEN AND BE LA CLUE. 211
and, sailing on May 3rd, joined Vice-Admiral Broderick off Cape
Sicie on May IGth, and assumed the command.
The French sqnadron prepared at Toulon was in charge of
M. de La Clue; and, when the British arrived oft" the port, it was
almost ready for sea. The French were carefully blockaded, or
rather, watched with a view to preventing them from leaving
without being detected and followed. On June 7th, before they
attempted to come out, Boscawen chased two French frigates, and
drove them into a fortified bay near Toulon, whither on the 8th, he
ordered the Gulloden, Conqueror and Jersei/, under the orders of
Captain Smith Callis, to proceed, and, if possible, destroy them.
The ships were gallantly taken in ; liut, when under the batteries,
they were becalmed ; and, after a sharp two hours' engagement, they
had to be recalled without having accomplished their object. The
Gulloden lost 16 killed and 26 wounded : the Conqueror, 2 killed and
■4 wounded : and the Jersey, 8 killed and 15 wounded ; and all the
vessels were badly damaged aloft.
The Admiral continued on his station until he was compelled, at
the beginning of July, to go to Gibraltar for provisions and repairs.
Preferring Salou ' for watering purposes, he put in there on the 8th,
remaining until the '24th ; and thus he only reached Gibraltar on
August 4th. Meanwhile he ordered the Lyme, 24, Captain James
Baker, to cruise off Malaga, and the Gibraltar, 24, Captain
William M'Cleverty, to cruise between Estepona and Ceuta to keep
watch for the enemy. On August 17th the latter descried the
French fleet, consisting of ten sail of the line, two fifty-gun ships
and three frigates, close in under the Barbary shore. Captain
M'Cleverty made at once for Gibraltar, and arrived off Europa Point
at 7.30 P.M., when he signalled the force and situation of the enemy
to the Admiral, who sent off an officer to the Gibraltar, ordering
her to keep sight of the foe and from time to time to signal to him
accordingly. The British squadron was not quite ready for sea, and
Boscawen's flag-ship, the Na)niir, in particular, had not so much as
a single sail bent. Still, a little before 10 p.m., the whole fleet, of
thirteen sail of the line and two fifty-gun ships besides frigates, was
out of the bay.
Owing to the haste in which they had gone out, and to the
Admiral, after leaving harbour, carrying a press of sail to the
westward, the ships were, on the following morning, in two well
' A few miles soutU-west of Tarragona. ■
p 2
-212
MAJOB OPERATIONS, 1714-1762.
[1759.
defined divisions. The Warsjxite, Culloden, Swiftsure, Intrepid,
America, Portland, and Guernsey, whicli liad lain at anchor near the
Namur and had put to sea along with her, were still with her.
Vice-Admiral Broderick, in the Prince, with the rest of the
squadron, was many miles astern. At 7 a.m. on the 18th, ^ the
advanced division sighted the enemy to the westward. There were
then visible only seven sail, and it afterwards proved that the rest
had gone, without orders, into Cadiz during the night. De La Clue
first thought that the ships coming up behind him were his own
missing vessels ; but he was disabused when Boscawen signalled a
general chase to the N.W. At 9 a.m. the British Admiral ordered
his sternmost ships to make more sail. This soon had the effect of
bringing up the Vice-Admiral's division, which enjoyed a fine easterly
^ Bi'itisli and French fleets oft' Gibraltar in August, 1759: indicating, the order in
which the advanced British ships got into action on August 18th ; the loss suft'ered hy
each in the action ; and the fate of the French ships.
BltlTTSH.
Fkexch
Ships.
jUllS.
Commanders.
Killed.
Wounded.
Ships.
Guns.
Fate.
1
Ailmiral Hon. Edward
Ocian^. . .
80
[Bnmt.
G. Naviur . .
90
Boscawen (B). J-
13
44
RedvutabU .
74
;Capt. Watt hew Buckle( 1)
Centaure . .
74
Vice-Admiral Thomas
. Broderick (B).
Tt-nuraire . .
74
>Taken.
Prince - .
90
IfocUste. . .
64
Capt. Joseph Peytou(l).
Souverain . .
74
[Escaped, Ang.
j 18-19.
Newark. .
80
„ William Hol-l
[ bourne. /
5
Guerrier . .
Fantasque . .
74
64
5. WaTsplte .
'< 1
„ John Bentley.
U
40
Lion . . .
64
I. Culloden .
74 j
„ Smith Callis.
4
15
Triton . . .
64
Parted company,
Ang. 17-18;
and entered
Conqueror .
.7. Swiflmre .
70
„ William Lloyd (l).i
2
0
Fier. . . .
50
10
,, Tbom-is Stanhope.
5
32
orifiamme. .
50
JSdgar . .
61
f „ Francis William
1 Drake.
Chimere . .
26
Cadiz.
St. Albans .
64
,, Edward Vernon (2),
6
2
Mintrve . .
24
8. Jntrepul .
60
„ Edward Pratten.
6
10
Gracieuse . .
24
2. America .
60
,, .James Kirke.
3
16
Pr ince ss\
Louisa . i
60
„ Robert Hailand (2). 1
Jersey . .
60
„ John Barker (!■).
4. Guermey .
50
fl.ieut. Michael Kearnv)
I (acting). /
14
3. Portland .
SO
Capt. Jervis Slaplesdeu.
6
12
Avibuscade.
40
„ Eichard Gwynn.
liainbmv .
40
„ Christopher Basset.
Shann&n .
36
„ Charles Meadows.
Active . .
30
„ Herbert Sawyer(l)
Tltetis . .
32
„ John aioutray.
Lyme . .
24
,, James Baker.
Gibi-aXtar .
24
f „ -William ll'Cle-
l verty.
Glasgow ,
24
„ Andrew Wilkinson
Sheerness .
24
„ John Clark (1).
Tar tar' $]
Prize. .}
24
„ Thomas Baillie(l)
Favourite .
16
Com. Timothy Edwards.
Gramont .
16
„ Philip Affleck.
jKina, f.s. .
8
,, Richard Bi. kerton.
Salamanders
f.s. . .]
8
f ,, Hod. John Leve-
1 son Gower.
1 Excbauged ships.
2 Flag of M. de La Clue. Suffren. who w.is iu her, thus became fur the second tim-j a pnsuuer to the British.
1759.] THE ACTION OFF LAGOS. 213
breeze, while the enemy had barely enough wind to give them
steerage way. Thus the British gained on the chase till, at about
1.25 P.M., Boscawen signalled to engage.
At 1.30 P.M. the enemy began to fire at the headmost British
ships as they came up ; and since Admiral Boscawen perceived that
the French intended to make off as soon as the breeze should reach
them, he naturally desired that the most advanced ships of his fleet
should push on and attack the enemy's van, to stop their flight until
his remaining ships could get up. He therefore ordered the America
and Gnernseij to make more sail. At about 2.30 p.m. the GiiUocleii
began to fire on the Ceiitaure, the rear ship of the enemy ; and, very
soon afterwards, the America, Portland, Guernsey and Warspite got
into action. The wind had by that time dropped altogether, so far
as the ships which were in action were concerned. The British rear
division, however, still had a breeze, and was thus able to get up in
time to have a share in the victory.
Boscawen, himself, in the Namur, was in action with the stern-
most ships of the enemy at about 4 o'clock. The Swiftsure and
Intrepid were at that time to windward of him ; and, hailing the
former, he ordered her to push on for the enemy's van ship. By
about 4.30 p.m., the Namur was close alongside the Ocean; and,
when the two had been engaged for about half-an-hour, the Namur,
having lost her mizenmast and both topsail yards, was disabled, and
fell astern. De La Clue made every effort to take full advantage of
this misfortime to the British flagship. Each of his vessels, except
the Centaure, set all possible sail to get away; but the Centaure had
been engaged by every ship as she came up, and had stood the brunt
of the fight. At last, her fore and main topmasts had fallen ; and
she was so greatly damaged in every respect that she had no alter-
native but to strike.
The misfortune to the British flagship did not afl'ect the energy
and activity of the British Admiral, who ordered out his barge and
was rowed at once to the Newark, and there hoisted his flag. But,
by that time, the battle proper had almost ceased, and the pursuit
had begun. Boscawen continued it during the whole night. Though
there was a fine breeze, there was also a slight haze ; and, under
cover of this, two of the French ships, the Souverain and Guerrier,
altered their course in the darkness and so escaped. Thus, at day-
light on the 19th only four sail of the enemy were to be seen. The
British were about three miles astern of them, and about fifteen
214 MA.TOll OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1759.
miles from Lagos. Once more the wind had almost died away. At
about 9 o'clock the Oram ran amoDg the breakers, and the three
other ships anchored under the Portuguese batteries. Boscawen
thereupon sent the Intrepid and America to destroy the Ocean,
which, in taking the ground, had carried away all her masts.
Captain Pratten had anchored ; and he failed to carry out the order ;
but Captain Kirke, taking in the America very close, discharged a
few guns into the enemy at point-blank range, and obliged her to
strike. M. de La Clue, who had one leg broken and the other
injured, and who eventually died of his wounds at Lagos, had been
landed about half-an-hour previously. Captain Kirke took possession
of the French flagship ; and having removed such officers and men as
were found in her, he set her on fire, deeming it impossible to bring
her off. The Warnpite was ordered in against the Temeraire, 74,
and succeeded in bringing her out very httle damaged. Vice-Admiral
Broderick's division went against the remaining two ships, and,
after about half-an-hour"s action, captured the Mocleste, 64. The
Bedoutahle, 74, having been abandoned, and being found to be
bulged, was burnt. In this action the enemy's loss was very severe
in killed and wounded. In the Centaure alone, about 200 were
killed. The loss of the British, on the other hand, was very small,
amounting only to 56 killed and 196 wounded.^
"The Britii^b," says Beatson, "as well as the French Admiral, was not quite well
pleased with the behaviour of his captains, some of whom, he thought, did not make
sail enough to get up with the van of the enemy's fleet, which the Admiral wished they
should attack, in order to retard their flight until the rest of the squadron should be
able to join in the action. Others, through mismanagement, he thought, had allowed
their ships to fall to leeward, after they had engaged the enemy some time, and there-
fore could not properly get into action again. But great allowance ought to be made
for this, for just as the British ships came up with the enemy's rear, the wind died
away. They attacked the enemy on the lee side, in order that they might be able to
open their lower ports, some of the shi])S carrying them very low. Another reason why
some of the British ships fell so much to leeward was that the French Admiral, on
perceiving Admiral Boscawen in the Namur, and some ships along with him, pressing
forward to attack his van and centre, made his fleet lufl' up as much as they possibly
could, so as to form a sort of crescent ; by which position the whole of his shipis in
their van and centre were enabled by their fire, not only to assist the rear, but each
other, in their endeavours to repel the attack, which they looked for every moment
from the British Admiral. By this manauvre of M. de La Clue's, such of our ships as
first got up with the enemy's rear, and to leeward of their line, were thrown out of
action ; while, for want of sufficient breeze of wind, they could not get into it again.
The Portland, having lost her foretopmast, dropjied astern. The Tntrepid was to win<l-
ward of the Namur; she did not bear down close enough, but kept aloof, and fired at
the enemy across the other ships." -
' Boscawen's Disp. -See table p. 212, antea. ^ ' Nav. and Mil. Mems.,' ii. 318.
1759.] BLOCKADE OF CADIZ. 215
Boscawen, who said of the battle, " It is well but it might have
been a great deal better," presently rehoisted his flag in the Namur,
and despatched Captain Matthew Buckle, in the Gibraltar, to
England with dispatches. Buckle was graciously received by the
King, and presented with .i'.500 to buy a sword. The Admiral
himself, as soon as his fleet had repaired damages, returned, in
accordance with his instructions, to England, taking with him the
Namur, Wars2)ite, Swiftsure, Iiitrejnd, America and Portland, the
Salamander and ^tna fire-ships, and the prizes Temeraire and
Modeste. These were afterwards followed by the Edgar, Princess
Louisa, and the prize Ccntaiire. Vice-Admiral Broderick, who
remained in the Straits, blockaded Cadiz, in which still lay that part
of the Erench squadron which had taken refuge there.
Boscawen's rewards were a membership of the Privy Council
and a generalship in the Marines. Captains Bentley, of the War-
spite, and Stanhope, of the Swiftsure, were knighted for their share
in the action ; and the three prizes were purchased, and added to
the Navy under their Erench names.
Broderick blockaded Cadiz very closely ; but, on November 9th,
he was driven from his station by a storm, and was obliged to send
his flagship to Gibraltar to refit, and to hoist his flag on board the
Conqueror. The Newarh and Culloden had to cut away all their
masts, and run for port. Returning off Cadiz, Broderick contniued
the blockade as before ; but the enemy, though by that time sixperior
in strength, declined to come out and offer him battle. The Vice-
Admiral being a second time driven from his station by a storm, the
Erench at length ventured forth, and were happy enough to get
safely back to Toulon.
Eear-Admiral George Brydges Eodney was sent in the summer
with a light squadron,^ consisting of one ship of the line, four fifty-
gun ships, five frigates, a sloop and six bomb ketches, to endeavour
to destroy the flat-bottomed boats, and the supplies which had been
' Squadron under Eear- Admiral Rodney in the Channel, 17.5'.l: Achilles, 60, Hear-
Admiral George Brydges Dodney, Caiitaiu the Hon. Samuel Barrington ; Chatliam, 50,
Captain John Lockhart ; Deptford, 50, Captain John Holhvell ; Isis, 50, Captain
Edward Wheeler; Norwich, 50, Captain George Darb.v; Brilliant, 'i&, Ca.\^is.m Hj'de
Parlser (1) ; Juno, 36, Captain Henry John Philips ; Vestal, -32, Captain Samuel Hood (1) ;
Boreas, 28, Captain Hon. Robert Boyle ; Unicorn, 28, Captain Thomas Graves (2) ;
Wolf, 16, Commander Hugh Bromedge ; Furnace, bomb, Commander Jonathan
Faulknor (1) ; Firedrake, bomb, Commander James Orrok ; Basilisk, bomb, Com-
mander John C'larke(l); Mortar, bomb. Commander Joseph Hunt; Carcass, bomb.
Commander Charles luglis (1) ; and Blast, bomb, Conuuander Thomas Willis.
210 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1702. [1769.
collected a,t Le Havre for the projected invasion of England. Sailing
from St. Helen's on July 2nd, 1759, he anchored on the 3rd in the
Koad of Le Havre, and stationed his bombs in the channel leading
to Honiieur. These threw shells into the town, magazines, and
boats for fifty consecutive hours, and did immense damage, without
receiving any injury worth mentioning. Rodney, with some of his
frigates, remained off the port for the rest of the year, and captured
numerous prizes.
Admiral Sir Edward Hawke sailed in June, with a fleet of
twenty-five sail of the line and many frigates, to blockade or, more
strictly, to observe the enemy in Brest. He cruised some leagues at
sea, leaving an inshore squadron of his hghter ships, under Captain
the Hon. Augustus John Hervey, of the Monmouth, 64, close off the
port. He also detached Commodore John Eeynolds (1), in the
Firm, 50, with a small squadron, to watch the French transports
which had assembled in the river Morbihau in preparation for the
invasion of Ireland. ^Vhen at length the Firm became very foul and
had to go home to refit, she was relieved by the Rochester, Commo-
dore Eobert Duff. In the course of the blockade the Achilles, 60,
Captain the Hon. Samuel Barrington, also had to go home, having
run on a rock when in pursuit of some French vessels. It may be
mentioned that, during part of the summer. Prince Edward
Augustus, afterwards Duke of York, again served as a midshipman,
with Captain Lord Howe, in the Magnunime, 74.
Numerous brushes with the enemy relieved the tedium of the
blockade. On one occasion the French sent out four ships of the
line to attack the inshore squadron ; but Hervey, instead of retiring,
went to meet them ; and, the fleet making as if to support him, the
French withdrew. The intention had been that, if Hei-\-ey had
drawn off and left the coast clear, the four ships of the hne should
have gained the mouth of the Morbihan, crushed Duff, and then
escorted the French invasion of Ireland. Hervey and the inshore
squadron continued verj' active, and greatly annoyed the enemy,
until in October the Monmoutli, which had become very leaky, had
to return to England.
The approach of the season of bad weather seemed to afford the
French better opportunities for putting into execution their scheme
of invasion, it being impossible, in those days, for a blockading
squadron, no matter how strong or how ably commanded, to alwaj's
maintain its position dm-ing the autunni and winter. A \aolent gale
1759.] IIAWKE AND DE COyFlAyn. 217
of wind, in fact, forced Hawkc from his station on November '.)tii,
and obliged him to put into Torbay. This storm proved the salva-
tion of M. de Bompart, who, with his squadron, was returning from
the West Indies, and who must otherwise have been snapped up by
the British fleet. Most of the inen of his ships were turned over to
the fleet under M. de Conflans, who learnt by the arrival of M. de
Bompart that the British had Ijoen driven from off the port.
With the hope of being able to effect something against Commo-
dore Duff, de Conflans put to sea on November 14th. Hawke on the
same day got under way from Torbay, and on the 15th was in-
formed by Captain William M'Cleverty, of the Gihndtar (the same
who three months earlier had warned Boscawen of the approach of
M. de La Clue), that the Brest fleet had sailed, and that it had been
seen twenty-four leagues N.W. of Belle Isle, steering S.E. Hawke,
with strategical intuition, made for Quiberon Bay with all possible
sail, rightly judging that the French would take advantage of their
brief liberty in order to make for that neighbourhood, so as to free
the transports which were blockaded by Duft' in the Morbihan. But
he was unable to proceed with the speed he desired. Wind from
the S. by E. and S. drove him considerably to the westward and
delayed him. On the 19th, however, the wind became fair ; and, on
that day, Hawke ordered the frigates Muidstuiie and Govcntrij ahead
of the fleet, one on the starboard and the other on the larboard bow.
Early in the morning of the 20th he also ordered the Magnanime
ahead to make the land.
The contrary wind which had baffled Hawke also retarded
de Conflans, and was instrumental in saving Duff, who received his
first news that the Brest fleet had put to sea by Captain Gamaliel
Nightingale, of the Vengeance, on the morning of the 20th. Night-
ingale on entering the bay had fired guns to alarm the Commodore.
Duff realised at once the danger that was upon him, and immediately
made the signal for his ships to cut their cables. In a few minutes
they were all under way. He attempted to take them out to sea
round the north end of Belle Isle, but, the wind shifting, the
Belliqueux, 64, Captain Thomas Saumarez, was the onl}' one which
escaped by that passage. She was not able to rejoin until three
days after the battle. Duff then tried to escape by the south end of
the island ; and, in doing so, he was observed by de Conflans, who
made the signal to chase. The Chatham, 50, which sailed very badly,
was almost within gunshot of a French seventy -four, when a man
218
MAJOI; OPKUATIONH, 1714-17G2
[1759.
on the main-top-gallant yard of the Bochester hailed that he saw a
sail, and, presently, that he saw a fleet. The Commodore quickly
made out what the fleet was, and at once ordered his little squadron
to tack and chase the enemy. At first the French were puzzled by
this change of policy; but, as soon as de Conflans discovered the
cause, he recalled his chasers ; and Duff's squadron was thus enabled
in the course of the day to join Sir Edward Hawke.
At about 8.30 a.m. the Maidstone signalled that she had sighted
a fleet ; and at 9.45 the Mcujnanime announced that the strangers
were enemies. The French were at that time rehnquishing the chase
of the Commodore's squadron, and Belle Isle bore E. by N. j N.^
Hawke instantly made the signal for a line of battle abreast, in
order to draw up his ships ; and he followed it soon afterwards with
the signal for the seven ships which were nearest the enemy to
' List of the British and French fleets in the action in Quiberon Ba}', November
20th, 1759 :—
Buixisu.
French
Ships.
Guns.
Commauders.
Ships.
Guns.
Fate.
lioyal Gejrgi; . .
100
1 Admiral Sir E^lnard Hawke,
■ K.B.
Soleil lioyal
1
80 2
(Beached and burnt
I by the French.
(Capt. John Campbell (1).
Tonnant. . .
, 80 3
To the Charente.
iVke-Ailmiral sir Charles
Formidahh .
80 4
Taken.
Vnivn ....
90
\ Hardy (-2).
(Capt. John Evaus.
Orient . . .
Jntrepidc . .
80
74
|To the Charante.
Duke
90
,, Thomas Graves (2).
Glorieux
"4
,. Vilaine.
Namur ....
90
,, :\latthew Buckle(l).
Thesee . . .
"4
Foundered.
Mars
74
Commoil. Jauie.s Youiig (1).
Heros . . .
74
|Tak>'U, wrecked.
WarspiU . . .
74
Capt. Sir John Bentley, Kt.
I and burnt.
HoxuUs. . . .
74
,, William Fortescue.
Jiohuste , . .
"4
To the Vilaine.
Torhau ....
74
f „ Hon. Angustus Kep-
l pel.
yfagnifique . .
Jiiktt
-4
"0
,. Charente.
Wrecked.
Magwiniine
74
„ Viscount Howe.
Superbf. . . .
70
Foundered.
ITero
74
74
,, Henry .Speke.
f „ Hon. George EiJg-
[ cnmbe.
Dauphin lioyal
Dragon .
70
64
}To the Charente.
y'orthumberlantl
64
1
Sivi/tsure .
70
/ „ Sir Thumas Stanhope.
I Kt.
Sjikinx .
Solitaire . .
64
64
\ „ Vilaine.
Dorsetshire . . .
70
„ Peter Deuis.
Brillant, . .
64
„ Charente.
Burfurd . . .
70
,, James Cambier (1).
Eveill*- . . ,
64
„ Viliine.
Chichester . . .
70
„ AViUiamSaltreu W'illett.
Bizarre . . .
64
„ Charente.
Temple ....
70
f „ Hou.>Va.shiDgtuuShir-
l ley.
mjiexiblt . .
64
„ Vilaiu?.
Hevenge ....
64
„ John Storr.
Vestale. . . .
34
j
Essex ^ ....
Kingston
64
60
,, Lucius O'Brien.
„ Thomas Shirley.
Aigrette. . .
Calypso . . .
36
16
> ,, Vilaine.
Intrepid, . . .
60
,, Jervis jMapIesdeu.
Prince Noir
)
J.l<jjtlii{ta
60
,, Jo.shua Rowley.
Dttnhirk . . .
60
,, Hon. Roliert Digbv.
Defiance . . .
60
50
„ Patrick Bair.l.
„ Robert Duff.
Rochester . . .
Portland . . .
SO
„ :MaiTiot Arbutbnot.
falMund . . .
50
,, Francis Samuel Drake.
Chatham . . .
50
„ John Luckhart.
^
Minerva . . .
32
„ Al-'xaud r Arthur Hood.
Venus
36
,, Thumaj? Harrisuu (2).
Vengeance . . .
28
„ Gamaliel Nightingale.
Corentry
28
„ Francis Burslem.
Maidstone .
28
„ iJudtey Digge-s.
Sapphire . . .
32
,, Jchn Strachau.
1 Wrecked.
- Flag of M. de Confian>, \'iLe-Admiial.
Flag of the Prince de Bauffremout-Listenois, Chef d'Escadre.
Flag of M. St. Andre dn Verger, Chef d'Escadre.
1759.] THE BATTLE OF QUIDERON BAY. 219
chase, draw into line of battle ahead of him, and endeavour to arrest
the French until the remainder of the fleet could get up and bring
about a general engagement.
Upon realising that they were in the presence of the British, the
enemy fell into some confusion, but, in the course of a short time,
seemed to arrive at a determination to fight, and endeavoured to
form a line. While they were executing this manoeuvre, the British
approached very rapidly, the wind being then nearly west. De Con-
flans then suddenly altered his mind, and, instead of waiting to
engage, made off. He was near his own coasts, with the difficulties
and dangers of which he was fully acquainted and presumably knew
well how to avoid, while the British were on a lee shore, vdth which
they were unfamihar. The weather was tempestuous and was
rapidly growing worse ; and the November day would soon end.
De Conflans therefore endeavoured to keep his fleet together, and
steered right before the wind for the land, which was not more than
about twelve miles distant.^
The wind, as the short afternoon drew to its close, was variable
between N.W. and W.N.W., and blew in heavy squalls. Yet both
fleets crowded sail, the French to escape, and the British to overtake
them. At 2 p.m. the enemy began to fire at the leading ships of
the British fleet; and, half-an-hour later, when the Warspitc ix,i\A
Dorsetsliire were close up with the enemy's rear, Hawke made the
signal to engage. The British fleet was then to the soirth of
Belle Isle. A little later the Bevenge, Magnanimc, Torhay, Montagu,
Besolution, Swiftsure and Defiance got into action, and hotly
engaged the French rear. Yet this fact did not prevent the
French admiral, who was in the van, from leading round the
Cardinals. The Formidahle , carrying the flag of Eear-Admiral
du Verger, was attacked by the Besolution, and, in addition,
received a broadside or two from every other British ship that
passed her ; and, having been severely treated, she struck about
4 o'clock. The loss on board of her was terrible, M. du Verger
and upwards of two hmidred others being killed. The Formidable
was taken possession of by the Besolution. In the meantime, the
ships of the British rear were straiiaing to get into action. The
Thes4e, Captain de Iversaint ^ was hotly engaged by the Magnanime,
' For Quiberon Bay and its neigUbourhooil, see chart facinsj; p. 4:88, in A'ol. II.
- Guy Siinon de Caetnainpreu, Comte de Kersaint ; bora, 1709; entered the navy
as a seaman, 1722; lieutenant, 1742; captain, 174.5. In Benommee captured Prince
220 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1759.
but was relieved by the disablement of the British ship, which,
being fouled by one of her consorts, fell astern. Very soon after-
wards the ThesSe was tackled by the Torbay ; and, in the contest
which resulted, she capsized and foundered, chiefly owing to the
fact that her captain, from motives of self-pride, persisted in fighting
his lower deck guns, regardless of the stormy state of the weather.
All her crew of about eight hundred men, except twenty, were lost.
The Torbaij, owing to similar causes, was at one time in danger of a
like fate ; but Captain Keppel closed his ports in time, and saved
her. Another French ship, the Siq^erhe, foundered at about the
same time.
Owing to the gale, the lee shore, and the gathering darkness,
there was at that time great confusion ; and it is almost impossible
to tell exactly what happened. But it would appear that after
having engaged the Thesee, and having been fouled first by the
Warspite and then by the Montagu, Lord Howe, in the Magnanime,
observed the French Hems somewhat disabled to leeward, and,
bearing down and ranging alongside, quickly obliged her to strike.
The Heros anchored, but, owing to the weather, no boat could be
sent to take possession of her ; and, later, her captain ran her ashore
and lauded his crew. As night fell, the enemy's fleet divided ; part,
under M. de Beaufiremont, the vice-admiral, making to the south-
ward within the Four Bank, and probably designing to attract the
British into danger.
But Hawke would not be tempted to pursue them. Night was
come ; islands, rocks, and shoals were all around ; no pilots were on
board ; the charts were indifferent, and the weather was terrible.
Hawke, therefore, made the signal to anchor, and came to in fifteen
fathoms of water, the Isle de Dumet bearing E. by N. two or thi'ee
miles distant, the Cardinals W. ^ S., and the steeples of Le Croisic
S.E., as was discovered in the morning. Unfortunately, the signal
was not taken in, and, consequently, was not obeyed, b}^ many ships
of the British fleet. According to the code then in use, the signal to
anchor by night was made by firing two guns from the flagship,
of Orange. Commanded the Alcide in the East Indies. Some French accounts state
that the Thesee was sunk at Quiberon owing to being run do^vn by Hawke's flagship
while de Kersaint was going to the assistance of the Soleil Boyal ; but these are
clearly incorrect. The Coimfs son, who saw his father sink at Quiberon, was later a
distinguished naval officer, but, meddling with politics, was guillotined in 1793. He
was then a vice-admiral.
1759.] rilK DATTLE OF QUIBERON BAY. 221
without using lights or any other indications to distinguish the
j)articular purpose for which the guns were fired. At a moment
when there was still a certain amount of firing going on on all sides,
the discharge of two guns from the flagship could of course not be
recognised as a signal except by the few vessels which chanced to be
so near the Admiral as to be aware that he had anchored. The
others either stood out to sea or anchored, as prudence suggested.
Had the French only known the dangerous position in which the
unsatisfactory nature of the signal book had left their enemy during
that stormy night, they might, in the morning of the 21st, have
attacked the small body remaining at anchor near Hawke, and
perhaps have won a decided and complete victory by the mere
strength of superior forces.
The night was dark, and even more boisterous than the evening
had been ; but, though guns of distress were heard from all sides, it
was not possible to send assistance to anyone. On the morning of
the 21st the Besoliitioii was seen to be ashore, and the French Heros
was on the Four Bank. De Conflans's flagship, the Soleil lioyal, in
the obscurity overnight, had come to anchor in the very midst of the
British ; and, when at daylight she perceived her situation, she
slipped her cable and tried to get away, but presently went ashore
near the town of Le Croisic. No sooner was she observed to be in
motion than Hawke sigiralled the Essex to slip and pursue her ; but
in the ardour of the chase the Essex unfortunately got on the Four
Bank and was also wrecked. It was seen that, while the French
vice-admiral had gone to the southward with part of the fleet, the
remainder had stood to the N. and was engaged in the mouth of the
river Vilaine in getting out guns, stores, etc., and endeavouring to
find a haven up the river. On the 21st and 22nd, by taking ad-
vantage of the flood tide and of what vnnd there was under the land,
all of them got into the river, whence several of them could never be
brought out again. On the 22nd Hawke ordered the Soleil Boijal
and Heros to be set on fire. The French, however, anticipated him
by themselves burning the former.
On the British side the number of men killed in the action did
not exceed fifty, and only about two hundred and fifty were
wormded.^
As soon as it became known in England that the French had
sailed from Brest, the excitement was great, and every effort was
' Ha\vke"s Disp. of Xuvember 24 th.
99-7
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1711-1702.
[1759.
made to meet the situation. Eear- Admiral Geary was detached
with a reinforcement of ships ' for Hawke ; and other vessels capable
of putting to sea were ordered to be in readiness at a moment's
notice. Vice-Admiral Charles Saunders, returning from the con-
quest of Quebec, learnt in the chops of the Channel that the French
were out and that Hawke had gone in chase of them. Though he
had with him but three ships of the line,^ he realised so fully that no
addition of forces was to be despised, and he had so strong a sense
of his duty, that, on his own responsibility, he steered for Quiberon
Bay with all the sail he could set. But neither Geary nor Saunders
joined Hawke ere the battle. Geary anived several days too late,
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL OF IIAWKE's VICTORY IN QUIBEROX BAY, 1759.
(From an oriijinal kindly lent by B.S.H. Captain Prince Louis of Battenberg, li.X.)
and Saunders, hearing of the issue of the action,^ altered his course
and steered again for England.
Hawke sent home his dispatches by Captain John Campbell (1),
who, as Captain Matthew Buckle had been, was graciously received
by the King, and presented with i^uOO to pm-chase a sword. Hawke
himself received the thanks of the House of Commons and a pension
of £2000 a year. Nor were other officers who had distinguished
themselves during the campaign forgotten. Boscawen, as has
already been mentioned, was made General of Marines ; Vice-
' Sandwich, 90, Rear-Admiral Francis Gear)', Captain Kichard Xorbury; Foud-
roijant, 84, Captain Richard Tyrrell; Bienfaisant, G4, Captain George Balfour;
AmerirM, 60, Captain .James Kirke; Anson, 60, Captain Matthew Whitwell; Firm, 60,
Captain John Reynolds (1); and Juno, 32, Captain Henry John Philips.
^ Somerset, 64, Vice- Admiral Charles Saunders, Captain Edward Hughes; Van-
(jmird, 70, Captain Robert Swanton ; and Devonshire, 66, Captain William Gordon.
^ Mahan calls this action "the Trafalgar" of the Seven Tears' War. Gueriu
exclaims : " C'etait La Hougue, moins la gloire et I'honneiir francais sauves."
175!).] PRECAUTIONS AGAINST Til HIST. 223
Admiral Saunders was made Lieut. -General of Marines, and Cap-
tains Sir Piercy Brett (1), Kt., the lion. Augustus Keppel, and Lord
Howe, were made Colonels of Marines.
On the 26th Hawke sent Commodore James Young (1), with a
squadron, to anchor in Quiberon Bay, and on the 27th detached
Captain the Hon. Augustus Keppel, with a squadron, to Basque
Boad, to attack such of the enemy as might be found there. But
before the latter reached his destination, M. de Beaufifremont had
lightened his ships and retired up the river Charente, whither the
British vessels were unable to follow him. Neither in the Charente
nor in the Vilaine could the fugitive ships be reached. Time, how-
ever, eifected what force could not ; for few of the vessels were ever
again fit for active service. Hawke was relieved by Boscawen, and
returned to England after an absence of ten months.
During the blockade it was notorious that no fleet employed
on similar service had ever before been so amply suppHed with
beer, provisions, and vegetables ; but, after the defeat of de Conflans,
in consequence chiefly of the adverse state of the weather, supplies
failed, and the men were obhged to be put upon short allowance.
This gave rise to the well-known satirical lines : —
" Ere Hawke did bang
Monsieur Conflans,
You sent us beef and beer.
Now Monsieur's beat.
We've naugbt to eat.
Since you have noiiglit to fear."
The small French expedition which had been assembled at
Dunquerque for a descent upon Scotland or Ireland, and which
was to be convoyed by Thurot, was blockaded throughout the
summer and early autumn of 1759 by a squadron ' under Commodore
AVilliam Boys, who, however, was driven from his station by a gale
in October. Thurot then shpped out and made to the northward,
Boys following as soon as possible, but not being able to overtake
the enemy, and ultimately having to content himself with cruising
' Squadron under Commodore William Boys, engaged in the bloL-kade of Dun-
querque, etc., 1759: Preston, 50, Commodore William Boys, Captain John Evans;
Antelope, 50, Captain James Webb; Pkvnix, U, Captain Christoi her Codrington
Bethell; Danae, -iO, Captain Heniy Martin (2) ; Liverpool, 32, Captain Richard Knight;
Stag, 32, Captain Henry Angell ; Argo, 28, Captain John Bladou Tinker ; Tweed, 28,
Captain William Paston; 7/«ssra»-, 28, Captain Robert Carkett ; Surprise, 2i, Captain
Charles Antrobus; Badger, li, Commander Basil Keith; Alderney, 12, Commander
John Peighin.
224 MAJOR OPEHAT/ONS, 171-1-1762. [1760.
off the coast of Scotland with the object of preventing any sudden
raid there. As Thurot's destination was unknown, and as there
were rumours that he contemplated a blow on some port on the
east coast of Enf^land, the squadron in the Downs/ under Com-
modoi-e Sir Piercy Brett (1), was ordered to Yarmouth. But
Thurot's operations in the British seas did not begin till the following
year, and an account of them may for the present be deferred.
During the year 17G0 the British squadrons on active service
were disposed as follows. Commodore Sir Piercy Brett commanded
in the Downs and North Sea ; Kear-Admiral George Brydges
Kodney cruised in the Channel and blockaded Le Havre ; Admirals
Sir Edward Hawke and the Hon. Edward Boscaweu reheved one
another in Quiberon Bay, and watched the French vessels in the
Vilaine and Charente, at Brest, Lorient, and Eochfort ; Commodore
Eobert Swanton was despatched with reinforcements to Commodore
Lord Colville in Korth America ; Captain the Hon. John Byron
was sent with a squadron to destroy the fortifications at Louis-
bourg ; Commodore Sir James Douglas (1) relieved Commodore John
Moore (1) on the Leeward Islands' station ; Eear-Admiral Charles
Hohnes reheved Vice-Admiral Thomas Cotes at Jamaica ; and
five additional ships were sent to the East Indies to reinforce Eear-
Admirals Charles Stevens and Samuel Cornish. In the Mediter-
ranean Vice-Admiral Charles Saunders succeeded to the command.
In the East Indies, Arcot and Carical, with many other places,
were taken from the French, the Marines serving in several
instances on shore, and the ships co-operating with the land forces
whenever possible. Pondicherry was besieged and blockaded, and
in October the boats of the fleet, under Commander William
Newsom, acting captain of the Southsea Castle, 40, and Lieu-
tenant Isaac Florimond Ourry, brilliantly cut out from under the
forts the Hermione, 36, and Baleine, 32, which were afterwards
purchased into the Eoyal Navy. The rainy season approaching,
Eear-Admiral Stevens left five ships of the line, under Captain
Eobert Haldane, of the America, 60, to continue the blockade,
and himself sailed on October 28rd for Trincomale. In the mean-
' Squadron under Commodore Sir Piercy Brett (1), Kt., in the Downs and Xorth
Sea, 1759: his, 50, Commodore Sir Piercy Brett, Kt., Captain Edward AVheeler;
Woolwich, 40, Captain Daniel Deriug; Aurora, 36, Captain Samuel Scott; Alarm, 32,
Captain John Eushworth ; Aquiion, 28, Captain Chaloner Ogle (2); Tactar, 28, Captain
John Knight (1) ; Sohhny, 24, Captain John Dah-ymple ; and Deal Castle, 24, Captain
George Tindall.
1760-yi.] REDUCTION OF rONDICHElUlY. 225
time the siege was actively carried on by Lieut. -Colonel Eyre
Coote.
On December 25th, Stevens returned with four of his ships of
the line, and resumed command off the port. On January 1st, 1761,
a violent hurricane burst upon the shipping. Stevens, whose flag
was in the Nur/o/k, 74, Captain Richard Kempenfelt, cut his cable,
and by gun-signals ordered his captains to do the same ; but, owing
to the violence of the gale and the amount of spray in the air, the
signals were neither heard nor seen. The Panther, 60, Captain
Philip Affleck, the America, 60, Captain Eobert Haldane, the
Medtvaij, 60, Captain John Bladon Tinker, and the Falmouth, -50,
Captain WiUiam Brereton, were dismasted, yet managed to ride
out the storm. A worse fate overtook the Neivcastle, 50, Captain
Digby Dent (3), the Queenhorough, 20, and the Protector, fireship, all
of which drove ashore and were wrecked about two miles from
Pondicherry, though they lost only seven of their crews. Other
vessels were even more unfortunate. The Due cVAquitainc, 64,
Captain Sir William Hewitt, Bart., the Sunderland, 60, Captain
the Hon. James Colville, and the Drake, storeship, foundered with
all hands, except seven Europeans and seven lascars. The total
sacrifice of life was about eleven hundred souls. Stevens, however,
resumed his position, and renewed the blockade on January 3rd,
and was next day joined by Eear-Admiral Cornish with additional
ships from Trincomale. Pondicherry was gradually reduced by
famine, until on January 15th it surrendered, and was occupied on
the 16th by the Navy and army. Thus ended the French power
on the coast of Coromandel.
On the Leeward Islands' and Jamaica stations the enemy was
in force too feeble to attempt anything of moment. Indeed, onlj'
one action that was fought in the West Indies in 1760 calls for
mention here. In the autumn Eear-Admiral Holmes learnt that
a French convoy, escorted by five frigates, was about to sail from
Cape Frantjois for Europe and he despatched the Hampshire, 50,
Captain Coningsby Norbury (2), the Boreas, 28, Captain Samuel
Uvedale, and the Lively, 20, Captain the Hon. Frederick Lewis
Maitland (1), to intercept them. On October 16th the French
put to sea, the escort consisting of the vessels mentioned in the
note.' Next morning at dawn the British ships sighted and
1 Sir'ene, 32; Due de C/ioiseuI, 32; Prhice Edirurd, 32; Fhtir de Lys, 32; and
Valeur, 20.
VOL. III. Q
226 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1760.
chased them, but closed veiy slowly until evening, when the breeze
freshened. At midnight the Boreas engaged the Sirine, but, being
disabled aloft, fell astern, and could not come up with her again till
2 P.M. on October 18th, off the east end of Cuba. A hot action
then began, and at 4.40 p.m. the Sirhie struck, having lost 80 killed
and woiinded. The Boreas had lost but one killed and one wounded.
In the meanwhile the Hampshire and Lively had been in chase of
the other frigates. Soon after daybreak on the 18th, the Lively,
by using her sweeps, got alongside of the Valeur, and, after an hour
and a half, forced her to surrender, she having lost 38 killed and
25 wounded, and the Lively but two wounded. Both the Sirene
and Valeur were added to the Navy under their own names. The
Hampshire at 3.30 p.m. got between the Due de Choiseul and the
Prince Edward, but the fonner, having the advantage of the wind,
got into Port au Paix. The latter ran ashore and struck, but was,
nevertheless, subsequently burnt by her crew. On the 19th the
Hampshire and Lively were about to attack the Fleur de Lys,
which lay in the bay to leeward of Port au Paix, w^hen the enemy
saved them the trouble by abandoning and burning the ship.
The conqiiest of Canada had not been completed when Quebec
fell, and the French still cherished hopes of ousting the British
and of regaining command of the countiy. On the other hand,
the British were determined to make good their possession. In
the winter of 17-59-60, a naval force consisting of the Onondaga, 18,
Mohawk, 16, and several row-galleys and gunboats, was estabhshed
on Lake Ontario, with a view to transporting an army down the
St. LawTence to Montreal. This airmy, of about 11,000 men
under General Amherst, consisted half of regulars and half of
provincial levies, besides Indians, commanded b}' Sir "William
Johnson, Bart. It was to be aided bj' another, of 5000 men,
under Colonel Haviland, advancing from Lake Champlain, and by
a third, under Brigadier-General Miu-raj-, advancing from Quebec
up the St. LawTence.
To help these various expeditions. Commodore Lord Colville ^
' Northumberland, 70, Commodore Lord Colville, Captain AVilliam Adams (2);
Alcide, 64, Captain Thomas Hankerson ; Trident, 64, Captain Julian Legge ; Pem-
hrol-e, 60, Captain John Wheelock; Prince of Orange, 60, Captain Samuel Wallis;
Richmond, 32, Captain Jolm Elphinstone (1) ; Eurus, 20, Captain Nathaniel Bateman ;
Porcupine, 16, Commander John Macartney ; and Racehorse, homb, ^vhich was already
at Quebec. The above wintered in America, and were joined at various times by the
Devonshire, 66, Captain George Darby; Norwich, 50, Captain William M'Cleverty;
Greyhound, 24, Captain Thomas Francis; and Lizard, 28, Captain James Doake.
17G0.] FBENCII ATTEMPTS AGAINST QUEBEC. 227
was directed to enter the St. Lawrence as soon as the season should
allow ; and a reinforcement ' under Commodore S wanton, consisting
of two sail of the line, three fifty-gun ships, and four frigates, sailed
from England early in the spring.
Knowing of some, at least, of those preparations, the French
made gallant attempts to seize Quebec before the river should be clear
of ice. They sent down the St. Lawrence an army of about 14,000
men mider M. de Levis. General Murray, underrating the force
of the enemy, marched out and attacked him, but was defeated at
Sillery on April •28th. Tf the French had at once followed up
their advantage, they could probably have taken the place, but
they let shp their chance. Murray was very active in the defence,
and sent the RaceJiorse down the river to look for the fleet and
hasten its arrival. On May 9th the Lowestoft, 28, Captain Joseph
Deane, anchored in the Basin, and brought news of the near
approach of Commodore Swanton, who, on the evening of the
15th, arrived in the Vanguard, 70, with the Diana, 36, Captain
Alexander Schomberg. On the 16th, in response to the expressed
wishes of General Murray, the Vanguard, Diana and Lowestoft
worked up towards the enemy's flotilla in the upper river, and soon
obliged it to retire with the loss of the Poinone, 36, which grounded
and was burnt near Cape Diamond, the Atalantc, 32, which grounded
and was burnt thirty miles higher up, and all the other craft except
a sloop. The active part of this work was done exclusively by the
Diana and Lowestoft, while the Vanguard, dropping down abreast
of Sillery, enfiladed the enemy's trenches there, and compelled their
abandonment. Indeed, this attack induced M. de Levis to raise
the siege on the night of the 16th, leaving behind him 44 guns,
10 mortars, and various stores. Unfortunately, the Lowestoft,
in returning, struck on a sunken rock and foundered, but without
loss of life. Lord Colville, with his squadron, reached Quebec on
the 18th.
All was then in readiness for the projected advance against
Montreal. General Murray's army was escorted up the river by
the Penzance, 40, Captain William Gough, the Diana, 32, Captain
Joseph Deane, the Porcupine, 16, Commander John Macartney,
' Vanguard, 70, Commodore Robert Swanton; Kingston, 60, Captain William
Parry (2); Rochester, 50, Captain Thomas Burnett; Falkland, 50, Captain Francis
Samuel Drake; Sutherland, 50, Captain Benjamin Clive; Penzance, 44, Captain William
Gough; Diana, 36, Captain Alexander Schomberg; Vengeance, 28, Captain Gamaliel
Nightingale; and Lowestoft, 28, Captain Joseph Deane.
Q 2
228 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-17G2. [1760.
the Gaspee, schooner, 8, and a flotilla of thirty-five small craft, it
having embarked in forty transports on June 13th. Progress vk'as on
several occasions challenged by French batteries ; but the various
difficulties were slowly overcome. Behind the main force followed
some troops from Louisbourg under Lord Kollo. In the interval,
General Amherst was advancing down the St. Lawrence under the
conduct of Captain Joshua Loring, K.N.' In the course of the
advance the Onondaga was taken by the enemy, and, though
retaken, had to be abandoned. Many boats and some small craft
were also lost by the way, owing to the gi'eat difficulties of naviga-
tion. On September 6th, however, the Commander-in-Chief's anny
landed on the upper end of the Island of Montreal, nine miles above
the city. The enemy fled, and Montreal was quickly invested.
As for Colonel Havilaud's force, it embarked at Crown Point
on August 11th, and, gradually driving the enemy before it, maae
its way, partly by water and partly by laud, to Isle Ste. Therese
near Montreal, appearing there within a few hours of the arrival
of Amherst and Murray in the same neighbourhood. The co-opera-
tion could not have l)een more exactly timed.
On September 7th a cessation of hostilities was agreed to ; and
on September 8th M. de Vaudreuil capitulated and Canada became
British. The final conquest had been prefaced bj' the captm-e or
destruction by Lord Colville of a large number of French privateers
on the St. Lawrence, and by the destruction by Commodore the
Hon. John Byron in Chaleur Bay, on July 8th, of the Macliaiilt, 32,
Bienfaisant, 22, Marquis de Marloze, 16, and several French small
craft which had taken refuge there in expectation of chance offering
them some opportunity for slipping up the river.
Captain Joseph Deane, R.N., and Major Barre carried home
the dispatches announcing the great success. Each was presented
with ;6500 whereveith to buy a sword. Byron, who had proceeded
on his own responsibility to Chaleur Bay on the service above noted,
and who had interrupted for the purpose the business of razing to
the ground the fortifications of Louisbom-g, subsequently retm-ned
and completed that work.
In the Mediterranean, whither A^ice-Admiral Charles Saunders
' .Joshua Loring came of a family which had been for some time settled in Korth
America. Lieutenant, 1745; Commander, 1756; Captain, 1757 ; chief director of the
Xaval Department in the Interior, and Commander-in-Chief of the Lake Flotilla, 1759-
1701': died, 1781.
1760.] GRUISK OF M. TIIUliOT. 229
went as Commander-in-Chief in April, ITCiO, little of importance
happened, owing to the overwhelming superiority of the British
naval forces. A French division slipped out of Toulon in June ;
but the greater part of it was driven by a squadron, under Captain
Hugh Palliser, of the Hlircivfihunj, 74, into a port in the island of
Candia, and was blockaded there until the British vessels had to
withdraw for supplies and repairs, whereupon the enemy got back
to Toulon.
.The fortunes of M. Thurot must now be followed. Evading
Commodore Boys, he left Dunquerque on October 15th, 1759. In
his little squadron of six frigates and corvettes, he had thirteen
hundred troops under Brigadier-General de Flobert.^ He first
went to Gothenburg in Sweden, partly to procure stores, and partly,
no doubt, to baffle pursuit or observation. There he remained for
nineteen days, going next to Bergen in Norway. On his way
thither, one of his ships, the Began, was so damaged in a gale as
to be obliged to return to France. The Fa a con also parted company
early in the voyage. Thurot quitted Bergen on December 5th, and
proceeded, by way of Stromo, in the Faroe Islands, reaching the
neighbom-hood of the Irish coast on January 25th, ]760. The
weather confounded an intended descent near Londonderry, and
scattered his squadron, so much so that the Amaranthc' never
rejoined, and returned in some distress to St. Malo. As the
ships were by that time all in a sorry plight, and more than one of
them was almost mutinous, the captains implored Thurot to abandon
the descent. But he refused, and put into Claigeann Bay, in the
island of Islay, on February 15th, to refresh.
Thurot left the island on February 19th, and next day anchored
in Belfast Loiigh, opposite Kilroot Point. The town of Carrick-
fergus was garrisoned by four newly-raised and weakly companies
of the 62nd Eegiment under Lieut. -Colonel Jennings. Thurot
landed about six hundred men on February 21st, and M. de Flobert,
after comparatively little fighting, obliged Colonel Jennings to
surrender the castle. The French requisitioned provisions from
^ De Flobei't, from the first, threw difficulties iu Thiirot's way, regarding him with
contempt and jealousy. 'I'liurot, as a seaman, jirohaljly had no high opinion of the
soldier ; for, as Laughton points out (' Studs, in Nay. Hist.,' 346), even until quite
recent times there was a saying on board ship, "a messmate before a shijiniate; a ship-
mate before a stranger; a stranger before a dog; but. — a dog before a soldier."
- It is tolerably certain, nevertheless, that the Amaranthe could have rejoined, h.ad
her captain desired to do so.
230
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762.
[1760.
the town, and made several small prizes in the Lough, rifling
and afterwards bui-ning them ; but de Flobert resisted Thm-ot's
entreaties to advance and seize Belfast. The whole adventure
cost the French about thirty killed and sixty wounded. The mayor
and some gentlemen were carried on board as hostages, and at
midnight on February 27th, the enemy, having re-embarked, set
sail to return to France.
The Duke of Bedford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, upon getting
news of the descent, sent expresses to all the principal ports to
inform the captains of any of H. M. ships that might be there of
what had happened. At Kingsale one of these expresses found
the frigates JSolus, Pallas, and Brilliant,^ which had been driven
from their station with Hawke's fleet on the coast of France.
These at once jmt to sea and went north. At Dublin, on the •26th,
the senior officer. Captain John Elhot, learnt that the enemy was
still at Carrickfergus. That same evening, he found himseK off the
mouth of Belfast Lough, but, the wind being contrar}-, he could
not get in. On the 28th, at 4 a.m., he caught sight of the French
as they rounded Copeland Island, and gave chase. " About nine,"
'continues Captain Elliot, in his dispatch of February 29th to the
Duke of Bedford, " I got alongside their commodore ; and, in a
few minutes, the action became general, and continued very briskly
for an horn- and a half, when they all three struck their colours."
The Marechal de Bdleisle alone fought well ; the Blonde and
Terpsichore stnick almost as soon as they were engaged. EUiot, •
with the prizes, subsequently put into Eamsay, Isle of Man, to
refit. All the vessels were greatly disabled aloft, and the Marechal
de Belleisle, which had suffered most of all, was with difficult}'
prevented from sinking.
' Squadron which, under M. Thurot, escajied from Dunquerque in 1759 ; and
squadron which, under Captain John Elliot, met and captured jiart of it on
February 28th. 17G0:—
FnENCir.
BnixrsH.
Ships.
GUDS.
.Ships.
Guns.
Commanders.
! Losses.
Marechal de BeUtislc . .
Blonde
Terpsicfwrt
Bigon\
Amaranthe^
Faiicon '
44
36
24
36
Ig
I«
Molm ....
Pallas ....
Brilliant . . .
32
36
36
Capt. John Elliot.
,. Hicljael Clements.
., James Loggie.
KiUed.
4
I
Womided.
15
5
11
1 n.id jiartei compauy before the acttou.
1760] BOSGAWEN'S LAST SERVICE. 231
The gallant Thurot,' who fell on this occasion, was an opponent
who, in his method of carrying on the war, had never shut his eyes
to the principles of honour, generosity, and humanity, and who
was scarcely less lamented hy his British foes than by his own
countrymen. The three victorious captains were unanimously
voted the thanks of the Irish House of Commons, and the Blonde
and Terpsichore were purchased into the Eoyal Navy.
Admiral Boscawen, after the return of Sir Edward Hawke,
sailed to command the fleet in Quiberon Bay, with his flag in the
Boijal Wmiani, and with Eear-x\dmiral Francis Geary, in the
SandwicJi, as second in command. While he was going to his
station, the RamiUies, 90, Captain Wittewronge Taylor, of his
squadron, went ashore on Bolt Head in a gale and was lost, the
crew all perishing except one midshipman and twenty-five men.
Boscawen, who was obliged by the heavy weather to return, sub-
sequently shifted his flag to the Namtir, and proceeded. His
cruisers took several prizes ; but the enemy's fleet did not — indeed,
could not — come out. The blockade prevented the French from
sending supplies across the Atlantic, and from interfering with
British trade. In August, Sir Edward Hawke, in the lioijal
George, reheved Boscawen, who returned to England on Sep-
tember 1st. This was Boscawen's last service. He died at his
house, Hatchlands, near Guildford, on January 10th, 1761." Hawke
pursued his predecessor's policy, and was equally successful. Kear-
Admiral Eodney, cruising ofi' Le Havre, was not less energetic.
An expedition, to be commanded by Commodore the Hon.
Augustus Keppel, and to be directed either against Mauritius and
Bourbon or against the coast of France, was in preparation when,
on October '27th, George II. died. This important event led to so
much delay, that on December 13th orders were given for the
fleet to return from St. Helen's, where it lay ready for sea, to
Spithead, and for the troops on board to be disembarked. For
that season the enterprise was given up.
1 Fran9ois Thurot, born at Nuits, 1726. Son of a small innkeeper ; educated l.iy
the Jesuits at Dijon ; apprenticed to a druggist ; surgeon in a privateer, 1744 ; captured
by the British; escaped; devoted himself to privateering; lived for some time in
London ; given a commission in the French navy ; commanded the Friponne, and,
from 1757, the Marklud de Se/leide. His actions with the Southampton, the Seahorse,
etc., will be found noticed in the next chapter. He was one of the boldest of the French
corsairs.
" Boscawen was, however, buried in the church of St. Michael, Peukevel, Cornwall,
where there is a monument by Eijsbraak to his memory.
232 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 17U-1762. [ITOI.
By 1760 the enemy's navy had been so nearly annihilated that
but two or three of His Majesty's ships were taken by the French ;
and French trade had been so diminished that the British cruisers
made but comparatively few captures — only one hundred and ten
vessels in all. But the British mercantile losses by the ravages
of small privateers were enormous. As many as three hundred
and thirty trading vessels were taken. Few of them, however,
were of any considerable size ; and, in spite of the loss, British
trade flourished exceedingly. It was, no doubt, chiefly owing to its
healthy condition that the commercial marine experienced so many
losses.
In 1761 Vice-Admiral Francis Holburne commanded at Ports-
mouth ; Commodore Sir Piercy Brett (1) in the Downs ; Commodore
Kobert Swanton in the Channel ; Sir Edward Hawke and Sir
Charles Hardy (2) in Quiberon Bay till March, when Commodore
Keppel took charge of the squadron in the Bay of Biscay ; Vice-
Admiral Charles Saunders in the Mediterranean ; Commodore Lord
Colville in North America ; Eear-Admiral Charles Hohnes at
Jamaica; Commodore Sir James Douglas (1), and, at the end of the
year, Eear-Admiral Rodney, on the Leeward Islands' station ; and
Eear-Admiral Stevens in the East Indies, until his death, when
the command devolved on Eear-Admiral Cornish.
After the capture of Pondicherry, Mahe was reduced by the
troops under Major Hector Munro, supported by four sail of the
line under Eear-Admiral Cornish. The place siu-rendered on
February 10th. In May Eear-Admiral Charles Stevens fell a
victim to the unhealthiness of the climate. The French on the
station were by that time practically helpless, and Cornish soon
afterwards went to Bombay to refit. He then proceeded southward
to meet an expedition which he had reason to beheve was on its
way out, under Commodore Keppel, to attack Bourbon and
Mauritius ; but all idea of this expedition had, in the meantime,
been abandoned. The means taken, however, to apprise Cornish
of the change of plans were not efficacious ; and the Eear-Admiral
was actuallj' obliged, by scarcity of supplies, to go back to
Madras without hearing any news from home. Two of his ships,
however, the York, 60, Captain Henry Cowell, and the Chatham, .54,
Captain Thomas Ljiin, being imable to keep with the fleet, had
to bear up for the Cape of Good Hope. There they learned from
the Terpsicliore, 26, Captain Sir Thomas Adams, Bart., that Keppel
ITGL] . CAPTURE OF DOMIXICA. 233
was no longer to be expected ; and in due course they can-ied the
iutelhgence to the Eear-Admiral in India.
On the Leeward Islands' station, Commodore Sir James
Douglas (1), who was reinforced by four sail of the line and three
frigates/ with troops from North America under Lord Eollo,
attacked, and, on June 8th, captured, the Island of Dominica.
During the rest of the summer, operations were chiefly confined to
the protection of trade, and the repression of privateering. Towards
the end of the year, it having been determined to prosecute a more
active and offensive policy, and to largely increase the force among
the AVest India Islands, Eear-Admiral Eodney was appointed to
the command ; and on November 2'2nd he arrived at Carlisle Bay,
Barbados, where he was presentl_y joined by the Temeraire and
ActaoH, with troops from Belle Isle, and l)y a military force from
North America under Major-General Monckton.
On the Jamaica station there were several single-ship encounters,
but no occurrences of first-rate importance. Eear-Admiral Charles
Holmes, dying on November '21st, was .succeeded in the command
by the senior officer, Captain Arthur Forrest, of the Centaur,
pending the arrival of Sir James Douglas. In North America,
likewise, little of moment happened, the chief business of the fleet
being to convoy troops to the West Indies. Nor were there any
transactions on a large scale in the Mediterranean, although the
force there was, towards the end of the year, greatly strengthened
by the arrival of a detachment from home under Sir Piercy Brett (1).
The French scarcely ventured to put to sea ; and, when any of
their ships did issue from port, they were almost invariably
captm-ed.
Admiral Sir Edward Hawke and Vice-Admiral Sir Charles
Hardy (2) remained in the Bay of Biscay, watching the French ships
in the Vilaine and Charente ; and, to better effect their purpose,
stationed an inshore squadron, under Captain James Gambler (1),
quite close to the mouth of the Vilaine. Yet, in spite of this
precaution, on January 2nd, the night being dark and the breeze
fresh, several of the French vessels slipped out thence, and, though
chased by Gambler, escaped into Brest. After this evasion, the
' Stiiiimj Castle, 64, Captain Michael Everitt ; yonvich, 50, Captain William
M'Cleverty; Falkland, 50, Captain Francis Samuel Drake; Sutherland, 50, Captain
Julian Legge; Penzance, -l-i, Ca[itain .John Boyd (acting); Repulse, 32, Captain
John Carter Allen; and Lizard, 28, Captain James Doake.
234
MAJOR OFERATIONS, 1714:-1762.
[17G1.
blockading' force was needlessly large for the work remaining to
be done, and in March Hawke returned to England, leaving behind
him enough ships to observe the enemy's motions.
The expedition, which had been prepared during the previous
year, and had been destined at one time for Bourbon and Mauritius,
and later for the coast of France, was again brought forward in
1761, Commodore Hon. Augustus Keppel being appointed to
command the sea, and Major-General Studholm Hodgson^ the
laud forces. The squadron at first included ten sail of the line,
eight frigates, three sloops, three bombs, and two fireships, but
was eventually reinforced with five more sail of the line.^ The
army originally consisted of about seven thousand men,^ but about
three thousand more were subsequently sent to the scene of
operations.
The expedition* sailed from St. Helen's on March 29th, and
.sighted Belle Isle,^ which it was designed to attack, on April 6th.
That evening Keppel detached six frigates to cruise between the
island and the mainland, in order to sever communications. A
squadron under Captain Matthew Buckle (1), consisting of thirteen
' Later a field-marshal.
^ British squadron employed under Commodore the Hon. Augu.stus Keppel iu the
expedition against Belle Isle, 1761 : —
• Ships.
Guns.
CommaDders.
Ships.
Guns.
Commanders.
iCommod. Hou. August'is
Moitmouth t
64
Capt. .Tohn Storr.
Valiant ....
Y4
\
veppel.
Lynn
44
„ Walter Stirliug.
(Caut. Adam Duncau.
Launceston . .
44
.. Edmnnd Affleck.
Sandwich
90
, Kicbanl Norbury.
Soutltamptim .
36
,, Charles Antrobus.
Dragon ....
74
, Hon. Aug. John
Hervey.
, Blattbew Barton.
Melampe. . .
36
r ,, William Hothara
I (1).
„ Matthew iloore.
Tenu'rairt .
74
Adeenture . .
32
Torbay ....
74
, William Brett.
ActcEOn . . .
28
,„ Paul Henry Ourry.
Swi/tsurc . . .
70
{
, Sir Thomas Stan-
Flamhoroudh .
24
„ Samuel Thomp.sou.
hope, Kt.
Aldborougii
24
,. Mitchell Graham.
ITampton Court
64
, CdiT Scrope.
Escort . . .
14
Com. Charles EUys.
Hssi:x ....
Prince of Orantje .
64
60
{
, Alexander Schom-
My ... .
10
,, George Gayton.
berg.
, Samuel Wallis.
Druid . . .
8
f ., Hon. John Lut-
l treU.
Achilles ....
60
{
, Hon. Samuel Bar-
Firedrake. b.
8
,. James Orrok.
rioRton.
fv/ernal, b.
8
,, James Mackenzie.
Berol ....
74
, WiUbm Fort^scue.
Furnace^ b. . .
8
,, James Chaplen.
Buckingham i . .
70
, Peter I'arker (1).
Vesuvius^ f.s. .
16
„ Jaaies Chads.
Burforill . . .
Chichester l . . .
70
70
{
, .lames Gambier(l)-
, William Saltreu
Willett.
JEtna, f.s. . .
16
1 ,, Michael Henrv
{ Pascal.
I Fullowed the fleet as reinforcements.
' Its nominal force was 9000, but the regiments were incomplete. Hodgson to
Albemarle, March 28th, 1761.
* For Keppel's secret instructions, see ' Life,' by Hon. and Rev. T. Keppel, i. 302.
That biography, however, appears to contain numerous errors.
^ For Belle Isle and neighbourhood, see chart facing p. 488 of Vol. II.
1761.] THE EXPEDITION TO BELLE ISLE. 235
sail of the line and three frigates/ was presently sent to cruise
off Brest to prevent the possibility of interference from that quarter.
Early on April 7th the fleet passed the south end of the island close
in, so as to enable the Commodore and General to reconnoitre,
and at noon it anchored in the Koad of Palais. The Commodore
and General then reconnoitred more closely in a cutter, having
first ordered the boats to be hoisted out, and the troops to be
made ready to land. They found no place more suitable for a
disembarkation than a l)ay near Point de Locmaria, which they
had remarked in the morning. To distract the enemy, a feint of
landing was made near Sauzon by a detachment under Captain
Sir Thomas Stanhope ; and, on the morning of the 8th, the wind
being north-east, the real landing in force was made near Port
Andro, after the Prince of Orange, Dragon, and Achilles, with two
bombs, had silenced a four-gun battery at the entrance of the bay.
Commodore Keppel gave the signal for the disembarkation from the
Prince of Orange, to which he had shifted his broad pennant from
the Valiant. The boats were led by Captain Matthew Barton,
and, although the enemy offered a most vigorous resistance, the
landing was effected at three different places. But the troops found
it impossible to hold their ground or to mount the well-defended
slopes in front of them, and, after a hot contest, had to retreat with
very considerable loss. The retiring boats were covered by the fire
from the ships.
Bad weather for several days prevented any renewal of the
attempt ; but on the '2'2nd, while two feints were made elsewhere,
a new landing was prepared under Major-General John Craufurd
at Fort d'Arsic, under cover of the Sandwich, Dragon, Prince of
Orange, two bombs, and two armed transports ; Captain Barton,
as before, leading in the boats. The feints were ordered to be
made by Brigadier-General Hamilton Lambart, one near St. Foy
and the other at Sauzon. Lambart was directed, if he saw any
probability of success, to actuall)' land, and to endeavour to hold
' Namur, 90, Captain Matthew Buckle (1) ; Union, 90, Captain Thomas Evans ;
Royal William, 8-1, Captain Hugli Pigot (1) ; Princess Amelia, 80, Captain John
Montagu ; Hero, 74, Captain William Fortescue ; Fame, 74, Captain the Hon. John
Bj-ron ; Cornwall, 74, Captain Robert Man (2); 31ars, 74, Captain Richard Sprv ;
Bedford, 64, Captain Joseph Deane ; Prince Frederick, 64, Ca])tain Jervis MaiJesden;
Lion, 60, Captain Edward Le Cras ; Bipon, 60, Cajitain Edward Jekyll ; Unicorn, 28,
Captain Charles Douglas ; Tweed, 28, Captain William Paston ; Aquilon, 28, Captain
Chaloner Ogle (2).
2o(J Mjjuii opkhations, itu-ito:^. [itgi.
his own. This, in fact, he did under cover of the Swiftsure,
HamptoJi Court, Essex, and Lynn, and with the assistance of
Marines under Lieut. -Colonel Mackenzie and Captain Murray. As
he effected his object before the intended landing at d'Arsic had
begun, the division intended to attack that place rowed promptly
to Lambart's support, and enabled him to maintain his position
and to drive back the enemy. All the troops were disembarked
by ~) P.M., and the French retired before them to Palais. Batteries
were erected against the town on May 2nd, and in the preliminary
operations before the place, some Marines, under Captain David
Hepburn, greatly distinguished themselves. On May 13th several
advanced redoubts were carried, and the enemy was driven from
the town to the citadel, which, from the 16th onwards, was subjected
to a furious bombardment. On June 7th, a large breach had been
formed ; and preparations were being made for storming it, when
the Chevalier de St. Croix, the governor, offered to surrender.
Possession was taken on the 8th. The British in these operations
lost about three hundred and ten killed and five hundred wounded,
besides many men who died of disease. During the whole pro-
ceedings the most perfect harmony prevailed between the naval
and the military chiefs.^ The naval dispatches were sent home
by Caj)tain the Hon. Samuel Barrington, who, upon his arrival, was,
as was then usual in such cases, presented by the King with £500.
The island was held during the remainder of the war.
After the landing on Belle Isle, Keppel, who had been again
reinforced, despatched Sir Thomas Stanhope with a squadron - to
attack such French ships as might be lying in Basque Eoad, and
to destroy the works on Isle d'Aix. No ships were discovered, but
the destruction of the works was satisfactorily accomplished by
Captain Peter Parker (1) of the Buckingham, in company with the
MonDiuufh and Nassau, assisted later by the Actcson, Fhj and Blast,
' " I hear some scoundrels liave spread a report tliat the Commodore and I have
disagreed. I lielieve there never was more friendship and more harmony between two
persons since the creation of the world than has subsisted between us. . . . The two
services have acted as one corps ever since we left England." Hodgson to Albemarle,
June 8th, 1761.
^ Swiftsure, 70, Captain Sir Thomas Stanhope ; Sandwich, 90, Captain Richard
Norb\iry; Trident, G4, Captain Benjamin Clive; Buckinyliam, 64, Captain Peter
Parker (1) ; Monmouth, 64, Captain John Storr ; Nassau, 64, Captain Maurice Suckling ;
Prince of Oranrjc, 60, Captain Samuel Wallis ; Actieon, 28, Captain Paul Henry Ourry ;
Fly, 14, Commander George Gayton ; Blast, bomb, 8, Commander ; Furnace,
bomb, 8, Commander James Chaplen.
1761.]
QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S ESCOUT.
237
and by the boats of the squadrou. The French prames from the
mouth of the Charente endeavoured to interfere with the operations ;
but the work was completed with very Httle loss on June "ilst
and 2'2nd. Sir Thomas Stanhope continued on the station during
the rest of the year, his ships being occasionally relieved. In
December, the enemy made an ineffectual attempt to destroy them
by means of fireships. Soon afterwards Lord Howe succeeded
Stanhope in the command.
It may here be mentioned, although the matter has nothing to
SIK PETER PAKKER (1), BAUT., ADMIKAL OF THE FLEET.
{From an engraving by Rldleij after a portrait onir in llic possession of Mr. Valentine Green.)
do with the miUtary operations of the Navy, that, in August, Lord
Anson, as Admiral of the Fleet, hoisted his flag on board the EoyaJ
Charlotte {ex-Boyal Caroline), yacht, in order to escort to England
the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strehtz, who had been
promised in marriage to George III., and who landed at Harwich
on September 6th. Anson's flag-captain on that occasion was
Captain Peter Denis, and the royal yacht was convoyed by the
238 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1702. [1701.
Nottinglidin, 60, Captain Samuel Marshall (1), the Winchester, .50,
Captain John Hale, the Minerva, 32, Captain Alexander Ai'thur
Hood, the Tartar, 28, Captain John Knight (1), the Hazard, 14,
Commander the Hon. Henry St. John (1), the Lynx, 14, Commander
the Hon. Keith Stewart (1), and a nmnber of small yachts.
Dux-ing the year there was a disposition, on the part of both
belligerents, to treat for peace ; but the negotiations broke down,
and the prospects of an amicable arrangement were seriously
diminished by the signature, on August 15th, 1761, of what is
known as the Family Compact, between the rulers of France and
Spain. As soon as news of this was received in England, Pitt
desired at once to declare war against Spain, which had for some
time previously behaved in a manner not altogether becoming a
neutral ; but, being overborne, he resigned. Had war been declared
when Pitt wished, the very rich home-coming Spanish treasure-
ships from America might have been seized. As soon as they were
safely in port, Spain took no more pains to disguise her hostiUty,
the consequence being that, by proclamation dated January 2nd,
1762, war was declared by Great Britain, and, by proclamation of
January 16th, by Spain. The Spanish court at once endeavoured
to coerce Portugal into joining Spain and France ; but Portugal was
loyal to her ancient ally, and manfully stood out, although war
was very quickly declared against her as a penalty for her non-
compliance. Substantial British miUtary support was promptly
given her, numerous British officers joined her army, and Com-
manders Joseph Norwood, Thomas Lee (1), and Michael Henry
Pascal ^ took service in her Kavy.
It was early resolved to deal with Spain in the most vigorous
and uncompromising manner. It has been stated that a large body
of troops had been ordered from North America to the AVest Indies
with a view to the reduction of the French Caribbee Islands. The
Ministry determined that these troops should be reinforced from
England, and that, after the newly conquered islands should have
been properly garrisoned, an expedition should proceed to the
attack of Havana. The conomand of the army assigned for this
ser\'ice was given to Lieut. -General the Earl of Albemarle. The
command of the squadron w^as given to Admiral Sir George
Pocock, K.B., with, as his second, Commodore the Hon. A. Keppel,
the Earl of Albemarle's brother.
' All these officers, upou their return to England after the peace, were posted.
1V61.] THE EXPEDITION AGAINST MANILLA. 239
Another movement induced by the rupture with Spain, was the
despatch of Commodore Sir Piercy Brett (1), with a strong reinforce-
ment, to Sir Charles Saunders, K.B.,^ in the Mediterranean. Sir
Edward Hawke, with Bear-Admiral the Duke of York, cruised off the
coasts of Spain and Portugal ; and later, the same squadron, under
command of Sir Charles Hai'dy ('2) and the Duke of York, left port a
second time on the same errand. While arrangements were thus
made to attack Spain in the West Indies, and, at the same moment,
to distract her attention at home, a small expedition, under command
of Brigadier-General Draper, was despatched from India against the
Philippine Islands.
On the death of Kear-Admiral Holmes, Sir James Douglas (1) was
appointed to the command at Jamaica ; Eear- Admiral Kodney still
commanded on the Leeward Islands' station ; and Commodore
Lord Colville remained in North America. Commodore Spry
cruised with a squadron of observation off Brest, until he was
reheved by Commodore Eobert Man (2) ; and Commodore Lord
Howe lay in Basque Eoad until he was relieved by Commodore
Peter Denis. Admiral Holburne commanded at Portsmouth ;
Commodore John Moore (1), in the Downs, and Commodore James
Y'oung (1), in the Channel.
Eear- Admiral Cornish continued to command in the East Indies ;
but, as the French had neither settlement nor trade there, he had
little to do against them. When, therefore, war broke out with
Spain, he was able to devote almost his undivided attention to the
new enemy. Colonel Draper, afterwards Sir William Draper, K.B.,
an officer who had distinguished himself at the siege of Madras in
17-59, had devoted part of a period of sick leave to inquiring into the
condition of the Spanish settlements in the Philippine Islands ; and
he had discovered that the defences had been much neglected, and
that the Spaniards there trusted rather to their remoteness than to
their strength for their protection." Upon the commencement of
hostilities. Colonel Draper laid his information before the Ministry,
and measures were taken accordingly. He was at once sent to
India in the Argo, 28, Captain Eichard Eing (1), with instructions for
fitting out an expedition against Manilla, and with an appointment
as commander-in-chief of the troops to be employed. The ex-
pedition ultimately consisted of the 79th Eegiment, a company of
' Vice-Admiral Sauuders was so installed, bj- proxy, ou May 26th, 1761.
- As they appear to have done again in 1898.
240
MAJOli OPEliATIONB, 1714-1762.
[1761.
Eoyal Artilleiy and miscellaneous bodies, which, with (530 seamen
and 270 INIarines from the fleet, brought the total of the available
field army up to about 2300 men, who were embarked in Eear-
Admiral Cornish's squadron and in two East Indiamen. The
preparations were begun and completed within three weeks. The
Seahorse, 20, Captain Charles Cathcart Grant, was sent in advance
to intercept any vessels that might be bound for Manilla. A
ADMIRAL SIK RICHARD KING (1), BART.
(From a lithograijh by Bidkij, after a miniature.)
di\asion of the fleet, under Commodore Eichard Tiddeman, sailed
on July 29th ; and the rest, with the exception of the Falmouth, 60,
which was left to convoy an ludiaman, followed under the Com-
mander-in-Chief on August 1st. On August 19th the fleet ^ reached
' Listof H.M. ships engaged in the expedition against Manilla : — Norfolk, 74, Rear-
Admiral Samuel Cornish (Yice- Admiral, October 21st, 1762), Captain Eichard Kempen-
felt ; Elizabeth, 64, Commodore Eichard Tiddeman, Captain Isaac Florimond Ourry :
Lenox, 74, Captain Eobert JoceljTi ; Orafton, 68, Captain Hyde Parker (1); Wey-
mouth, 60, Captain Richard Collins (2); America, 60, Captain Samuel Pitchford :
Panther, 60, Commander George Ourry (acting for Captain AVilliani JTewsom) :
17G1.] CAPTUllE OF MANILLA. 241
Malacca, and there watered and took on board various supplies.
On the '27th it sailed again ; and on September 23rd, to the great
surprise of the Spaniards, who had not heard of the outbreak of
war, it anchored off Manilla. On the 24th the town was sumnjoned,
but without result ; and, in the afternoon, under cover of the Argo,
Seahorse, and Seaford, some troops were landed, in spite of a heavy
surf which caused much loss of, and damage to, material. The
boats on this occasion were under the direction of Captains Hyde
Parker (1), Eichard Kempenfelt and William Brereton. There was
but shght opposition. The rest of the troops and the Marines were
disembarked on the 25th ; and on the 2Gth a brigade of seamen,
under Captains Collins, Pitchford and Ourry, reinforced them. On
the following days batteries were erected and opened ; and on the
29th the Elizabeth and Falmouth were ordered to co-operate as best
they could with the army, by enfilading the enemy's front. By
October .5th a practicable breach had been made in the works.
Early in the morning of that day this was stormed with success,
and the governor and officers were driven to the citadel, which they
presently surrendered at discretion. Not only Manilla, but with
it also Luzon, and all the Spanish islands, were handed over by the
terms of the capitulation. It was arranged that Manilla should be
ransomed for four millions of dollars to save it from pillage. Owing,
however, to the bad faith of the Spaniards, only half of this amount
was ever paid. The conquest, together with most of the prize
money, was handed over to the East India Company.
During the operations, Cornish obtained news that a galleon
from Acapulco was on her way to Manilla. Accordingly, on
October 4th, he despatched the FaiitJiey and Argo to intercept her.
These failed to do so ; but they succeeded in taking, on October 31st,
the Santisima Trinidad, which had left Manilla for Acapulco on
August 1st, having on board treasure worth about three million
dollars. In the meantime, the galleon from Acapulco had arrived
at Palapa, in Samar. It was agreed that, subject to certain
conditions, she was to be surrendered to the British ; but the
arrangement was never carried out, and it is probable that much of
her rich cargo eventually passed into the hands of private persons,
who had no right to it.
Fa! mouth, 50, Ca\ita\ri William Brereton; Ar(/o, 28, Captain Richard King(l); Sea-
horse, 20, Captain Charles Cathcart Grant; Heaford, 20, Captain John Peighin ; and
Southne'i Castle, store-ship.
VOL. III. E
242
MAJOR OPEItATJOXS, 1711-1702.
[1762.
The operations before Manilla were less costly than might have
Ijeeii expected. The army lost but 115 killed, drowned and
wounded, and the Navy but 35. The only naval officer who was
killed was Lieutenant Porter, of the Norfolk, but, unfortunately.
Commodore Tiddeman was accidentally drowned on the day of the
sun-ender. Captain llichard Kempenfelt was sent home with the
naval dispatches. As a reward for the sei'vice, Coi-nish was made
a baronet, and Draper a K.B., and each received the thanks of both
Houses. The colours taken at Manilla were hung in the chapel
of King's College, Cambridge, of which Draper had been a member.
The French empire in North America had ceased to exist ; and
its disappearance had rendered unnecessary the presence on the spot
of part of the large body of troops which had been concerned in the
conquest of Canada. As has already been mentioned, it had been
decided to employ some of them against the French islands in the
West Indies. Eear-Admiral Kodney had left England in October,
1761, and had arrived in CarHsle Bay, Barbados, on November 22nd.
He there found part of the squadron mider Commodore Sir James
Douglas (1), which he speedily detached to blockade Martinique.
Troops and transports were in the meantime assembled at Bar-
bados ; and an improvised force of armed hired sloops was sent to
cruise off St. Eustatia to prevent the Dutch from assisting the French
with supplies and provisions. At length, on January 5th, 1762, the
lieet,' having on board nearly 14,000 troops from England, Belle Isle,
' British fleet emjiloved in the expedition a;jainst Martinique, etc., 1762 : —
Ship^.
Cummauiiers.
Sbips.
rrmmauJers.
Marlborough
Dublin .
Foudroi/ant
Dragon ^ .
Trftneraire
Temple •
Vanguard
J/odeste .
Slirling Ca:
Devonshire .
Baisonnable
Alcide
Xottiitgham.
Eocfu^ster
:<utherland .
FdlkJaivl .
1 Kear- Admiral G . B.
\ Rodney (B).
((.'apt. John HoUwell.
iCommod. Sir James
^ i)oog]as(l).
leapt. Edward Gascoigue.
„ Robert Unff.
I ,, Hon. Aug. John
l Hervey.
,, JIatthew Barton.
,, Lucins O'Brien.
,, Robert S wanton.
f „ Hon. Robt. Boyle
( Walsingham.
„ Micliael Everitt.
,, George Darby.
i „ Molyueux .Shuld-
l ham.
„ Thomas Han kerson
„ Samuel Marshall (I).
t „ Thomas Burnett.
' „ .In ian Legge.
f „ "\VUliam M'Cle-
{ verty.
f ,, Francis Samuel
1 Krake.
S4
"4
64
64
60
50
50
Woolwich .
Penzance i .
Dover I .
Ecfio . . .
Stag . . .
liepulse , .
Actaon . .
Crescent
Lizard . .
Levant . .
Sightingale
Greyhound .
lioie . . .
Antigua.
Barbados
Ferret . .
Virgin .
Zephyr .
JBanlisk, bombi
Thunder, bomb
Grenada, bomb
lit/e- nai, bomb
44
44
40
Z-2.
32
32
28
28
28
20
20
20
10
16
12
12
8
Capt. M'illiam Bayne.
,, John Bovd.
„ Chaloner Ogle (3).
„ John Laforey.
„ Henry Angell.
,, John Carter Allen.
„ Paul Henry Ourry.
r „ Thomas Colling-
L wood.
,, James Doake.
,, William Tucker,
f „ James Campbell
I (2).
,, Joseph Mead.
„ Thomas Francis.
„ Francis Banks ( I ).
r „ John Neaie Pley-
i dell Ni.tt.
Com. Stair Douglas (1).
„ James Aims (1).
Capt.
Com. John Botterell.
„ Robert Brice.
Lieut. Rubert Ha.swell.
., James Hawker.
Com. James 3Iackeiizie.
1 I'ttaLbeil, uuiler C.ipt. the Hon. Augustus John Hervey, against St. Lucia.
y,zye<i^^i ^'^•r /^i^^nAof/y -^ - ^J^f^^■r^
1762.] CAFTIIHE OF MARTI MQUE. 243
North America and the West India Islands, under Major-General
the Hon. Eobert Monckton, sailed, and, on the 7th, joined Douglas
off Martinique. The coasts of the island had not been properly
reconnoitred, nor had the ships adequate charts on board. The
configuration of the island and the nature of its defences rendered
it desirable to land the troops as close as possible to the places at
which they were to be employed. But, at first, this fact was not
realised ; and Eodney, while detaching only a small S(|uadron to the
Great Bay of Fort Koyal, detached another to La Trinite to make
a feint, and himself anchored with the bulk of his force in St. Anne's
Baj'. A division, under Sir James Douglas, silenced the batteries
there, and landed the troops, losing, however, the HaisuiuKthle,
owing to the ignorance of her pilot. But it was soon found that
the march across to Fort Eoyal from St. Anne's Bay would be an
undertaking too difficult to be entered upon. The works which
had been erected at St. Anne's were therefore blown up, the
troops were re-embarked, and the whole force proceeded to Fort
Eoyal Bay.
The order of the attack having been arranged, the ships went to
their stations early on the morning of the 16th, opening fire upon
the batteries and silencing them by noon, soon after which the
troops were landed in three divisions in Cas des Navires Bay, under
conduct of Captains Molyneux Shuldham, Eobert Swanton and
the Hon. Augustus John Hervey. By sunset two-thirds of the
army were on shore ; and the rest, with 900 Marines, followed next
morning. The distance to Fort Eoyal was not great, only about
five or six miles ; but the country was terribly difficult, and the
defenders fought well from behind every rock and tree, as well as
within artificial works of all kinds. The necessary guns were,
however, dragged to the front, thanks mainly to the energy of the
seamen of the fleet ; and on January 24th, a preliminary attack was
made by a body of troops advancing along the coast parallel with a
detachment of a 1000 seamen in boats ; and the enemy was driven
back. On the 25th, the batteries began to bombard the citadel ;
and on the 27th the key to the whole position was taken. Yet
the citadel did not surrender until February 4th, and not until
February 16th was the whole island in possession of the British.
Captain Darby, of the Devonshire, and Major Gates, later a general
in the army of the revolting American Colonists, carried home the
dispatches announcing the capture of Fort Eoyal ; and each
R 2
244 MAJOR Ol'EBATIONS, 1714-1702. [1702.
received froiu the King the usual comphment of £500. The
British loss during the operations amounted to about 500 killed
and wounded.
Even before the conquest had been completed, Eodney detached
Captain Swantou to blockade Grenada ; and, when Martinique
had surrendered, Swanton was reinforced by vessels conveying
troops. These reached Grenada on March 3rd ; and on the fol-
lowing day the island was summoned ; but the governor refused to
comply. The inhabitants, however, ignored him, and capitulated
on the 4th ; and the governor himself was obliged to surrender at
discretion on the 5th, With Grenada fell the Grenadines. Swan-
ton, leaving a garrison, returned to Martinique.
On February 24th Captain the Hon. Augustus John Hervey had
been similarly detached against St. Lucia. But he could not satisfj'
himself as to the enemy's strength ; and, to discover it, he disguised
himself as a midshipman, and, in the capacity of an interpreter,
accompanied the officer whom he sent to summon the governor,
M. de Longueville. That gentleman refused to surrender; yet
Hervey learnt so much dm-ing his visit that, on the following day,
he made preparations for taking his ships into the harbour. Ko
sooner did the governor notice signs of their intention to approach
than he capitulated.
Hervey was next about to proceed to St. Vincent to assure the
Caribs that their neutrality would be maintained, and that the
French would be no longer suffered to interfere with them, when he
was recalled by Eodney, in consequence of news having been received
that a French squadron of seven sail of the line and four frigates,'
under M. de Blenac, with seven battalions of troops, had escaped
from Brest, owing to Commodore Spry having been driven from his
station off' that port ; and that it was on its w^-iy to relieve the
French West India Islands. Spry had detached the Aquilon, 28,
Captain Chaloner Ogle (2), with this intelligence to Eodney. But,
before the arrival of Spry's dispatch, the French squadron had been
sighted on March Sth, on the windward side of Martinique. It lay
to off the coast until the 10th, when it stood for Dominica.
Eodney summoned his detached division to a rendezvous off the
Salines, and, with Sir James Douglas (1), went in search of the enemy ;
but without result. AVhen he had collected his whole force and had
^ Due de Bovrgogne, 80; Df/enseur, 71; Hector, 71; Biadhne, 74; Protee, 64;
Drafjun,ii\; IiriU(mt,CA; Zephyr, 32; Di!i;/en>e, 3-2 ; Oinh,2f>; Ca'^Mo, 16.
1702] THE EXPEDITION J ''/.I /.V.s"/' I/AVAXA. 245
been assured that the French had gone to Cape Francois, he retiuiicil
to Martinique to water. He there found the Aquilon, from which
he learnt trustworthy details of M. de Blenac's strength. He
already knew, thanks to early information sent him by Commander
George Johnstone, commanding i\\o Ili)rnrt on the Lisbon station,
of the rupture with Spain ; and he was thus enabled to attack the
Spanish trade in the West Indies before the Spaniards themselves
knew that war had broken out. This important intelligence had
been brought to him by a small French privateer prize, which
Johnstone had entrusted to the Hornet's master, Mr., afterwards
Captain, John M'Laurin. At Martinique Eodney also heard that
a strong Spanish squadron had arrived at Havana and that Jamaica
was believed to be threatened. He therefore sent a frigate to warn
Captain Arthur Forrest, who, as senior officer, had succeeded Eear-
Admiral Holmes on the Jamaica station, and to desire him to join
the main fleet off Cape St. Nicolas, whither he himself intended to
proceed.
He was, however, not quite ready to sail when, oh March GGth,
the Eichmond, Captain John Elphinstone (1), arrived from England
with orders for him and General Moncktou to postpone further
operations pending the appearance of Admiral Sir George Pocock,
who had been commissioned to conduct a secret expedition on an
important scale. This did not prevent Eodney from sending Sir
James Douglas (1),^ with ten sail of the line, to the Jamaica station
with directions to bring Forrest's squadron thence as soon as
possible, and to join Pocock. He also sent Captain Swanton,
with a division, to cruise off the Spanish Main, and himself went
to St. Pierre, Martinique, sending a frigate to meet Pocock at Bar-
bados, where Sir George arrived on board the Naiiiiir on April '20th.
Pocock sailed again on the 24th, joined Eodney at Cas des Navires
on the 26th, and, with the greater part of the fleet, proceeded on
May 6th for Havana, leaving Eodney in charge of the Leeward
Islands.
On the Jamaica station Captain Forrest was, of course, super-
' J>«(6?i«, 74, Commodore Sir James Douglas (1), Captain Edward Gascoigne ; C'liJ-
loden, 74, Captain John Barker (1); Z)ra</o)i. , 74, Captain Hon. Aug. John Hervey ;
Temeraire, 74, Captain Matthew Barton ; Temple, 70, Captain Julian Legge ; Deuoii-
shire, 64, Captain Samuel Marshall (1) ; Alcide, 64, Captain Thomas Hankerson ; Sfirliiu/
Castle, 64, Captain James Campbell (2); Nottingham, 60, Captain Thomas Colling-
wood ; Sutherland, 50, Captain Michael Everitt ; Dover, 40, Captain Chaloner Ogle (■'>) ;
Tliuiidcr, bomb, Commander Robert Haswell ; and Grenada, bomb.
246
MA JO I! OPEIlAriONS, 1714-1762
[1762.
seded by the arrival of Sir James Douglas (1), who despatched a
squadron under Captain Hon. Augustus John Hervey ' to blockade
M. de Blenac at Cape Francois, until the whole Jamaica squadron
should be ready to join Pocock at Cape St. Nicolas.
The Havana expedition, when complete, included about 15, .500
men, the whole commanded by George, Earl of Albemarle. The
strength of the fleet will be found set forth in the note.^ After
leaving Martinique the expedition was joined in the Mona passage
on May 8th by Caj)tain Hon. Augustus John Hervey, and, having
arrived off Cape St. Nicolas on the 18th, was there reinforced on
the SSrd by Sir James Douglas from Jamaica.
It was open to Pocock either to sail by the south side of Cuba,
along the track of the galleons, round the west end of the island and
' Drarjon, li, Cajitain Hon. A. J. Hervey ; Temeraire, H. Captain Matthew Barton ;
Stirliiir/ Castle, 64, Captain James Campbell (2) ; Alcide, 64, Captain Thomas Hanker-
son ; Defiance, 60, Captain George Mackenzie ; Nottingham, 60, Captain Thomas
CoUiugwood ; Femhroke, 60, Captain John AVheelock ; Dover, 40, Cajitain Chaloner
Cgle (3) ; Trent, 28, Captain John Lindsay ; and Fort Mahon, 20, Captain Thomas
Lempriere.
- Fleet under Sir George Pocock at tlie reihictioii of Havana, and on the Jamaica
station, 1762: —
Ships.
Guus.
Commanders.
Ship?.
Guns.
Commanders.
f
(Imiral Sir George
Dover ....
40
Capl. Chaloner Ogle (3).
yamur ....
90
Pocock, K.B. CB).
Enterprise*.
40
John HouUon.
1
ICapt. John Harrison.
Richmond .
32
John Elphinstone
Ic
ommod. Hon. Angustus
co-
Valiant ....
74
Keppel.
Alarm ....
32
James Alms (I)
apt. Adam Duncan.
(acting).
Cambridge* . .
80
„ ■\Villiam Goustrey.
Echo
28
John l^ndrick.
Culloden. . . .
74
„ John Barker.
Lizard-. . . .
28
Francis Banks (1).
TetUfvaire . . .
74
„ MaUhew Barton.
Trent ....
i8
John Lindsav.
Dragon ....
{
,, Hi-n. Augustus
1 Cerberus > . . .
2S
Charles Webl>er.
|4
John Hervey.
Boreas ....
28
Samuel Uvedale.
Centaur'^ . . .
Dublin 3 . . . .
V4
It
„ Thomas Lempriere.
„ Edward Gascoigue.
Mercury
24
Samuel Granston
Gowlall.
Marlborough . .
vo
„ Thomas Burnett.
' Rose
20
John Neale Pley-
Temple ....
Orford ....
vo
„ Juliau Legge.
dell Nott.
66
„ Harriot Arbnthnot.
Port Mahon . .
20
Richard Bickerton.
Devonsfiire .
64
,, SamuelMarishail(l).
' Fowey ....
20
Joseph Mead.
Belleislc ....
64
., Joseph Knight.
Glasgoiv . . .
20
Richard Carteret.
Edgar ....
64
{
„ Francis ^Viliiam
I Bonetta ....
16
Com
l^ancelot Holmes.
Drake.
! Cygnet ....
16
Hon. Charles
Alcide'i ....
64
„ TliumasHankersou.
Napier (1).
Hampton Court
' Stirling Castle . .
64
64
{
,, Alexander Innes.
„ James Campbell
(•J).
i Merlin ....
Porcupine -
16
16
"William Francis
Bourke.
James Harmood.
Pembroke . . .
60
,. John Uheelock.
Barbados . . .
14
James Hawker.
llipon ....
60
„ Edward Jekyll.
Vijyer ....
1^
John Urry.
Nottingham
60
{
,, Thomas Oolling-
wood.
Pnrt Royal . . .
Fei-ret ....
14
14
Lieu
Stair Douglas (1).
t. Peter Clarke.
Defiance. . . .
60
,, George Mackenzie.
Lurcher, cutter
14
,,
^Valke^.
Jntrvpid- . . .
60
„ John Hate.
Thunder, bomb
8
Cum
Eobeit Haswell.
Centurion 3 4
50
,, James Galbraith.
tirenado. bomb
8
Deptford . . .
60
„ Dudley Digges.
Basilisk, bomb. .
8
Low field.
Sutherland^
50
„ ]\Iichael Everitt.
Hampshire . . .
50
,. Arthur Usher.
besides storeships,
bospits
Iship
s, and transpoits.
Pemaitcei . . .
40
„ Philip Buteler.
1 Joined after the siege had begun. - Escoited troops from North America.
3 Some time with the broad peunaiit of Comm-jdure Sir James Douglas.
* Escorted convoys from Jamaica to England.
1762.]
THE EXFEmriON AGAINST HAVANA.
247
so beat down to Havana, or to steer alonff the north side of Cuba
throni^h the Old Strait of Bahama. The former was the easier,
though the longer, course ; the latter was the shorter, though it was
somewhat difficult and even hazardous, the channel being narrow
and intricate. But the Admiral chose it, since time was precious,
and since it was important as early as possible to secure the only
passage by which the French could send supphes to Havana.
Pocock despatched Sir James Douglas in the Centurion to Jamaica
to bring stores thence, and to hasten forward such ships as were
still there ; and on the 27th, with his huge fleet of about two
hundi-ed sail, the Admiral bore away for the Old Strait of Bahama.
The precautions which he took are described in a letter which, on
June 14th, he addressed to the secretary of the Admiralty. He
placed boats on the most dangerous shoals on each hand to act as
marks ; and he records that he was greatly assisted in the navigation
by Anson's chart, which he found very correct. During the passage,
two Spanish vessels, the TJietis, 22, and Fenix, storeship, were
captured by the Alarm, Captain James Alms (1).
The Strait was passed on June 5th ; and on the morning of the
6th the fleet was brought to about fifteen miles east of Havana, so
that directions might be given to the captains as to the landing.
The conduct of this operation was eiitrusted to Commodore the
Hon. Augustus Keppel, who had under him six sail of the line and
some frigates. At 2 p.m. the Admiral bore away with thirteen sail
of the line, two frigates, the bombs, and thirty-six victuallers and
storeships, and ran down towards the harbour, in which he saw
twelve Spanish sail of the line ' and several merchantmen. On the
' Spanish laeii-of-wnr taken iir ilestroyed ilurini; the exiieilition agahist Ilavana,
1762:—
Ships.
Guus.
Commanders.
Fate.
■Tiifvc. . .
70
f Marques del Real Traspoilo.t
(.Dull J. Y. Mudariaga. ]
j
lie ill a
10
„ li. do Velasco.
Isurreudeied witli the city.
Sobnrano
TO
„ J. del Postigo.
1
«
Infante . .
70
,, V. de Rleilina.
]
a
ytptuno .
70
,, P. Berimidez.
Sunk at mouth uf" hailxmr.
>
JquilOii .
70
Marques Ciotizales.
Surrendered with the city.
Asia . . .
64
Don F. Garganta.
Sunk at movith of liarbunr.
America
60
„ J. Antonio.
Surrendered with the lity. Renamed J/oro.
<
Earcpji . .
Co)iqi(islador
00
60
,, J. Viucente.
„ P. Castejon.
Sun't at mouth of harbour.
1
San <ii:varit
San Antonio
60
60
I Not in Commission.
VSurrendered with the city.
Veni/ama .
26
Don D. Argote.
Taken by Lefiaiice at Mariel, May 28.
riicti^ . .
22
„ J. Porlier.
„ Alarm in the Stniit, June 3.
Marie . .
IS
,, D. HouecUea.
Defiance at Mariel. May 28.
Ft-nix, bt.s. .
Alarm in the Strait, May 28.
Two unfinished ships upon the stocks were destroyed.
248 MAJOli OrElSATIONS, 1714-17G2. [I7(i2.
following morning, the 7tb, he made a feint of landing the Marines
about four miles to the west of Havana, while the Earl of Albemarle,
with the whole army, landed without opposition between the rivers
Boca Nao and Coximar, six miles east of Moro Castle, under the
conduct of Captains Hervey, Barton, Drake, Arbuthnot, Jekyll, and
Wheelock, K.N. After it had landed, the enemy made some show
of fight, especially when the troops were about to cross the river
Coximar; but the foe was dispersed by the fire of the Mercurij,
Bone f fa, and Dragon. A detachment of seamen and 900 Marines
were landed to co-operate.
On July 1st, after some progress had l)een made with the siege,
the Cambridge, Dragon, and Marlboro iigJi, were ordered to cannonade
Moro ; and at about 8 a.m. they began a heavy fire, which was well
returned till 2 p.m. The vessels were all so much damaged that,
one after another, they had to be called off. The Cambridge lost
24 killed and 95 wounded; the Dragon, 10 killed and 37 w'ounded;
and the Marlborough, 2 killed and 8 wounded. Among the killed in
the Cambridge was Captain Goostrey, whose place was afterwards
taken by Captain Lindsay of the Trent. As this mode of procedure
was found to be too costly, the further bombardment of the defences
was left mainly to the shore batteries, which, aided by mines, made
a practicable breach in the Moro by July 30th. On that day the
castle was carried by storm. In the struggle the commandant, the
gallant Don Luis de Velasco, was mortallj' wounded. In honour of
his defence, there has ever since been a ship named the Velasco in
the Spanish navy. The vessels in the harbour took part in the
operations, but were of little avail.
Upon the fall of Moro the siege was pressed, and, on August 11th,
after a particularly heavy bombardment, flags of truce were hung
out on shore and in the Spanish flagship. A little later another flag
was sent to the British headquarters ; negotiations were entered
upon ; and, after some delay, the capitulation was signed on the
13th, and part of the works was taken possession of by the British
on the 14th.
The specie, stores, and vahiables found in the place were worth
about £3,000,000 sterling ; and with the city were also taken nine
sail of the line. Two others lying on the stocks had been burnt,
and three more, besides a large galleon, had been sunk in the mouth
of tlie harbour.^ On the other hand, the British killed, wounded,
' For tlie names and force of these, see note p. 247.
1762.] CArTURK OF IIAV.\yA. 249
and missing numbered no fewer than 1790 ; and many other Hves
were lost owing to the nnwholesomeness of the climate and the
hardships of the siege. The naval dispatches were sent home by
Captain the Hon. Augustus John Hervey, in the Draijnii, wliicJi on
her passage had the good fortune to capture a French sliip viihied
at £30,000.
During the siege several Spanish vessels were taken on the coast.
On July '2-ith the Chesterfield. 40, and four transports with reinforce-
ments of troops from North America, were lost at Cayo Confite,
but the people were saved. Lieutenant Walker, commanding the
Lurcher, cutter, going on June 13th up the Chorera Eiver out of
mere curiosity, had the misfortune to be killed. The prize money
divided amounted to about £736,000. Its division caused much
heart-burning, the shares of the Admiral and general being each
i'l'2-2,(597 lO.s. 6d. ; while the share of a captain E.N. was but
il600 10s. lOf?., of a petty officer only £17 5.s. Sd., and of a seaman
or Marine not more than £3 14s. djd. It was felt, and perhaps
with reason, that the administration permitted the commanding
officers to appropriate far too large a share of the spoils to them-
selves.
The fall of Havana, apart from its intrinsic significance, had
almost the importance of a great naval victory, owing to the large
number of Spanish sail of the line which shared the fate of the city.
The military conduct of the siege by the Earl of Albemarle has been
blamed, chiefly because, instead of attacking the city where it was
weak, he attacked Moro and Punta Fort, which were strong, but
which, nevertheless, must have quickly fallen had the city itself
been taken. But although there may be justice in this criticism, it
does not appear that anything can be urged against Pocock's conduct
of his part of the business ; unless indeed, it be admitted that he was
wrong to oppose his ships to the Moro on July 1st. For the rest,
the co-operation between the Navy and army was thoroughly loyal
and smooth ; and the behaviour of both was admirable.
Sir George Pocock delivered up the command of the fleet to the
Hon. Augustus Keppel, who by that time had been promoted to be a
Rear-Admiral of the Blue ; and, with the Namur, Cnlloden, Temple,
Devonshire, Marlborough, Infante, San Genaro, Asuncion,^ and
several other Spanish prizes and about fifty transports, sailed for
England on November 3rd. About six hundred miles west of Land's
' A prize nierchaiitiiiaii.
250 MAJOR OPEliATlONS, 1714-17G2. [1702.
End, the squadron was dispersed by a very violent gale from the
eastward. Twelve of the transports foundered, though their crews
were happily saved. The Temple came to a similar end. The
CuUoden and Devonshire would probably have fared likewise, had
they not thrown overboard many of their guns. Part of the fleet
made Kingsale. The other part, which kept the sea, suffered
terrible privations from famine, thirst and sickness. So anxious did
the Admiralty become, that it sent out several frigates to search for
Sir George ; who, however, safely reached Spithead on January 13th,
1763. The San Genaro, one of the ships which had put into
Kingsale, came to grief when at length she anchored in the Downs.
She was overtaken by another storm, and was cast away. The
Maiibovougli lost company with the Admiral early on the voyage ;
but she, too, met with very heavy weather, and, owing to leaks, was
obliged to put before the wind, throw her guns overboard, and keep
her crew at the pumps until November 29th, when her people were
taken off by the Antelope, .50, Captain Thomas Graves (2), which was
on her voyage home from Newfoundland. The Marlborough, after
having been abandoned, was destroyed. Eear-Admiral Keppel sent
home the rest of the Spanish prizes under Captain Arbuthnot of the
Orford, together with the Centaur, Dublin, Alcide, Hampton Court,
Edgar and some frigates ; and, after having acted with energy upon
the station until the peace, he remained to deliver up Havana on
July 7th, 1763, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty.
Some of his vessels then proceeded to Florida to take over that
province : and Keppel himself went to Jamaica, where he was
presently relieved by Eear-Admiral Sir William Bm-naby.
In the meantime, the French, taking advantage of the large
withdrawal of troops to the West Indies, of the defenceless condition
of Newfoundland, and of a fog in the Channel, despatched from
Brest, imder M. de Ternay, a squadron, which, with 1500 troops
under Comte d'Haussonville, evaded Sir Edward Hawke, crossed
the Atlantic, entered the harbour of St. John's on June 24th and
quickly took the town. On its way, this fleet fell in with three
combined convoys of great value, which it might easily have taken
had it not preferred the ulterior object of the expedition, and had it
not been deterred by the bold front offered to it by Captain Joshua
Rowley, of the Superb, 74, who had with him the Gosport, 44,
Captain John Jervis, and the Danae, 38, Captain Henry Martin (2).
The capture of this convoy would have done Great Britain far
ITGli.] BE-CAl'TUHE OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 251
more damage at that moment than the capture of Newfoundland.
Captain Thomas Graves (2), governor of the island, who lay at
Placentia in the Aiitclojje, 50, at once sent news of the French
descent to Commodore Lord Colville, at Halifax. Colville sailed to
the rehef of the island, and joined Graves ; and on August 25th,
M. de Ternay found himself blockaded in St. John's. On
September 11th, troops arrived from Louisbourg, and were landed ;
and the enemy was driven back ; but on the 16th, the Ijlockading
ships being driven from their station by a westerly gale, INI. de
Ternay slipped his cables and got away. A relieving squadron had
been sent from England in the meantime under Captain Hugh
Palliser, but de Ternay managed to avoid tliis force also. After his
departure, the condition of the French was, of course, hopeless ;
and on September 18th Comte d'Haussonville capitulated.
A little expedition of 1762 deserves some mention here in spite
of the fact that the Eoyal Navy had very little part in it, and that
it had no important results. It was an adventure which, in a
degree, recalls some of the exploits of the Elizabethan era, in that
it was a warlike undertaking by private persons, countenanced,
however, by the administration, and that it was aimed against the
Spanish power in America. A company of British noblemen and
merchants came to the conclusion that an attack upon the province
of Buenos Ayres might be both useful to the nation and lucrative
to the adventurers. They purchased from the Admiralty H.M. ships
Ki)iijsto)i, 50 (which they renamed Lord Clive), and Amhuscade, 28 ;
and they placed these under the orders of Mr. Macnamara, an
officer of the East India Company's marine. They further obtained
the co-operation of two Portuguese vessels, in which were embarked
five hundred soldiers. The little squadron, which also included
five store ships, sailed for Eio de Janeiro, where the final pre-
jparations were made, and, proceeding, entered the Eiver Plate on
November 2nd. Macnamara found that the Spaniards were better
situated for defence than he had expected. An attempt was made
on Nova Colonia, which had been captured by the Spaniards from
the Portuguese : but it was not successful. In a second attack, on
January 6th, 1763, the Lord Clive took fire and burnt to the water's
edge, her people, however, fighting her to the very last. Of her crew
of three hundred and fifty, two hundred and seventy-two, including
Macnamara, perished. The Amhuscade, though tembly mauled,
managed to get back to Eio. It should be added that the gallant
232 MAJOR OPEL'ATIOy.S, 1714-17GL'. [1762.
Spaniards treated with the greatest generosity those survivors of
the Lord CUve who fell into their hands, and, instead of regarding
them as enemies, treated them as guests whom misfortune had cast
upon their shores.
The year witnessed no events of great importance in the
Mediterranean ; where Sir Charles Saunders was strongly rein-
forced hy a squadron under Sir Piercy Brett (1). Some exceedingly
valuable prizes were made on the station ; but the fleets of the
belligerents did not meet. Sir Charles Saunders, and most of the
ships returned to England at the peace, leaving Kear-Admiral Sir
Piercy Brett to take possession of Minorca. Brett was subsequently
relieved by Commodore Thomas Harrison (2).
It has been already mentioned that M. de Blenac got out of
Brest, and sailed for Martinique duiing a temporarj' absence from
his station of Commodore Spry, owing to heavy weather. Spry
chased ; but, his provisions threatening to give out, he had to return
to England, having first sent the Aquilon to warn Rodney of what
had happened. During the year the other occurrences in waters
near home were mainly confined to the monotonous blockading of
the enemy's ports, and to the capture of their cruisers. Commodore
Lord Howe lay in Basque Koad, watching Eochefort and the mouth
of the Charente, until he was relieved by Commodore Peter Denis.
When M. de Ternay escaped from Brest, the fleet under Sir
Edward Hawke and the Duke of York went in pursuit, but missed
him. This fleet, then under Sir Charles Hardj' (2), cruised again in
September and October, and once more in November, but accom-
plished nothing. The cruisers of Commodore Robert Man (2), who
succeeded Spry off Brest ; of Commodore James Young (1), who
commanded in the Channel; and of Commodore John Moore (1),
who commanded in the Downs, made various prizes ; but the details
of these, and of other minor captures, will be fittingly given in the
next chapter. One episode, in which the force under Commodore
Moore was concerned, may, however, be noticed here.
The Dutch had for some time been supplying the enemies of
Great Britain with provisions and stores ; and the British cruisers,
in consequence, vigilantly searched their merchantmen. The States
General, resenting this, commissioned some men-of-war to protect
the illicit trade ; and, in September, a Dutch flotilla of four merchant-
men, convoyed by a 36-gun frigate, was fallen in with by the
Hunter, sloop; which, being refused permission to search, and being
1T(V.'.] THE WAIl AND TltADE. 253
too weak to enforce her demands, returned to Moore. He sent the
Diana, 32, Captain Wilham Adams (2), the Chester, 50, Captain
William Hay, the Hinifrr, 14, Commander James Ferguson, and
the Trial, 14, Commander James Cunningham, with orders to do
what was necessary. Adams found the Dutchmen, and demanded
to know what the convoy had on hoard. The Dutch captain again
refused to allow a search, and declared tliat lie would fight rather
than permit it ; whereupon Adams sent hoats to hoard each
merchantman. The Dutch fired a gun at the leading hoat, and
wounded a man in her. Adams retaliated hy firing a gun at the
frigate, which replied with a hroadside. This brought about an
action, which, in fifteen minutes, resulted in all the Dutch ships
submitting. They were taken into the Downs. The merchantmen,
being found to have on board stores for the French navy, were
detained ; but the frigate, which had lost four killed and five
wounded, was dismissed.
During this last year of the contest the enemy took but two
British men-of-war, a sloop and a bomb ketch. The hst of the
men-of-war taken by the British will be found in the appendix.
The French merchantmen and privateers taken numbered 120 ; and,
as in previons years, their value was greatly in excess of that of the
British privateers and merchantmen captured, though the number
of the latter was considerably greater. Towards the close of the
campaign the French had very few vessels at sea ; and their trade
was ruined. The Spanish power afloat was never great enough to
be a serious menace.
The first overtures for peace came from France to Great Britain
through the Sardinian envoy in London. In consequence of them,
the Duke of Bedford was sent to Paris, and the Due de Nivernois
came to England, with full powers ; and on November 3rd, 1702,
the preliminaries of peace, between Great Britain on the one side
and France and Spain on the other, were signed at Fontainebleau.
The terms were scarcely proportionate to the measure of the suc-
cesses which had been gained by Great Britain during the war. She
acquired Canada, St. John's, Cape Breton, and that part of what was
then called Louisiana, east of the Mississippi, except New Orleans,
together with the right of free navigation of the Mississippi. France
received permission, subject to certain conditions, to fish on the
banks of Newfoundland, and was given the islands of St. Pierre and
Miquelon as fish-curing stations. Spain relinquished her claim to
254 MAJOU (Jl'KllATIONS, 171 1-1762. [17G2.
fish on the liaiiks of Newfouudhuul ; and undertook to restore to
Portugal iiny places which she might have conquered from that
power, and to cede Florida to Great Britain. But Great Britain
was to restore Havana and its dependencies. Martinique, Guade-
loupe, and Marie Galante also, were to be given hack to France,
which, in addition, obtained St. Lucia, previously a neutral island.
Great Britain retained Grenada and the Grenadines, and received
the formerly neutral islands of Dominica, St. Vincent and Tobago.
She also had Minorca restored to her and kept Senegal ; but she
restored Belle Isle and Goree to France. The fortifications of
Dunquerque, should, it was agreed, be demolished. In Asia, Great
Britain had to restore the conquests made from France ; but France
was to erect no fortifications in her possessions within the province
of Bengal. Louisiana west of the Mississippi was ceded by France
to Spain.
The terms of the treaty, though honourable, could not be con-
sidered as particularly advantageous to Great Britain, seeing that
her maritime superiority in 176'2 was such that she might have
seized, and kept, almost what she would. The definitive treaty was
signed at Paris on February 10th, 17(53 ; and so ended the Seven
Years' "War.
Commenting upon the settlement, Mahan writes : —
" The nation at large and Pitt, the I'iwourite of the nation, were bitter!}' opposed to
the terms of the treaty. ' France,' said Pitt, ' is chiefly formidable to us as a maritime
and commercial power. What we gain in this respect is valuable to us above all
through the injury to her which results from it. You leave to France the possibility
of reviving her navy.' In truth, from the point of view of sea-power and of the
national jealousies which the spirit of that age sanctioned, these words, though
illiberal, were strictly justifiable. The restoration to France of her colonies in the
West hidies and her stations in India, together with the valuable right of fishery in
her former American possessions, put before her the possibility and inducement to
restore her shipping, her commerce, and her navy, and thus tended to recall her from
the path of continental ambition which liad been so fatal to her interests, and in the
same proportion favourable to the unprecedented growth of England's power upon the
ocean. The opposition, and indeed some of the ministry, also thought that so com-
manding and important a position as Havana was poorly paid for by the cession of the
then desolate and unproductive region called Florida. Puerto Rico was suggested,
Florida accepted. There were other minor points of difference, into which it is
unnecessary to enter. It can scarcely be denied that with the commanding military
control of the sea held by England, grasping as she now did so many important
positions, with her navy overwhelmingly superior in numbers, and her commercial
and internal condition very thriving, more rigorous terms might easily have been
exacted and would have been prudent. 'Ihe ministry defended their eagerness and
spirit of concession on the grotmd of the enormous growth of the debt, which then
amounted to £122,000,000, a sum from every point of view much greater then than
now; b\it while this draft upon the future was fully justified by the success of the
irryj.] THE END OF THE WAIl. 255
war, it also imperatively tlcimaiulcil that the utmost advantaj^es whieh the military
situation made obtainable, should be exacted. This the ministry failed to do. . .
Nevertheless, the gains of England were very great, not only in territorial increase,
nor yet in maritime preponderance, but in the prestige and po.sition achieved in the
eyes of the nations, now fully opened to her great resources and mighty power. To
these results, won by the sea, the issue of the continental war offered a singular and
suggestive contrast. France had already withdrawn, along with England, from all
share in that strife, and peace between the other i)arties to it was signed five days after
the Peace of Paris. The terms of the peace were simply the status quo ante, belbiin.
By the estimate of the King of Prussia, one hundred and eighty thousand of his
soldiers had fallen or died in this war, out of a kingdom of five million souls; while
the losses of Prussia, Austria, and France aggregated four hundred and sixty thousand
men. The result was sim]ily that things remained as they were."
( 25(i )
CHAPTEK XXVIII.
MILITAEY HISTOEY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1714-1762.
Minor Operations,
l. carr laughtox.
liicharil Lestock — "The Fifteen" — Moorish Pirates — Exploits of the Hind and the
liridi/ewater—Pimcy in the West — Edward Thatch, alias " Blaclibeard " —
Bartholomew Roberts — Chaloner Ogle ofl" Cape Lopez — Mighells at Vigo —
Smugglers and guarda-costas — The right of search — Salt gathering at the Tortugas
— Stuart and illicit trading — Fandino — Reprisals — The Shore/iam's prizes — The
Princesa taken — Pearce and Oglethoq^e at St. Augustine — Bamet and de Caylus
— Tlie West Indies — Loss of the Tijjur — Loss of the Tilbury — Callis at St. Tropez
— Martin at Ajaccio — Naval disasters — The Nortlntmhcrland taken — The hurricane
at Jamaica — Mostyn's fiasco — Capture of the Elephant — The Anglesey taken —
Lieut. Baker Phillips — The privateers — Successes of " The Royal Family " — The
Jersey and the St. Esprit — M. de Lage — The Nottingham, and the Mars — The
Alexander and the Solehay — The Portland and the Augnste — Fox and de La
Motte — Captures and losses — Commodore Pocock's successes — George Walker —
Ca])ture of the Magnanime — The Chesterfield — Piracy — The Blandford — Capture
of the Esperance — The Warwick taken — The Chausey Islands — Fortunatus
Wright — A repulse at Algeciras — Captain John Lockhart — " Error of .ludgment "
— Loss of the Greenwich and the Merlin — Destruction of the Aquilon and the
Alcion — Captures — Privateers — Thurot — Capture of the Emeraude — Disasters —
Burning of the Prince George — Capture of the Baisonnahle — Captain Brodrick
Hartwell — The Winchelsea taken — The Buckingham and the Florissant — The
Vestal and the Bellone — Capture of the Danae — The Achilles and the Comti de
St. Florentine — The Arethuse taken — Indecisive actions — Convoys — Adventures
of the Biademe — Sinking of the C'amherland — The Unicorn and the Vestale — The
Birhmond and the Felicite — The Minemt and the Warwick — The Bijio7i and the
Achille — Captures — Capture of the Achille and Bouffonne — The Bellona and the
Courageux — Last captures of the war.
F'
^OR several years after 1715, the
sending of a fleet to the Baltic
became, as has been already shown, a
species of annual exercise. All these
expeditions were barren of serious
fiphtint:, and there is little to be said of them here. In 1717,
1716.] THE NAVY ANT) THE PRETENDER. 257
however, when the fleet was iiudur 8ir George Byng, it was found
that, although the Swedish men-ol'-war still kept in port, consider-
able annoyance was occasioned to British trade by the niunerous
privateers. Against these Sir George detached various cruisers, of
which none was so successful as the Panther, 50, Captain Eichard
Lestock (2) . Many privateers were sent home ; but none of them
was of any great force, the average scarcely running to ten small
guns and sixty men per ship. The matter, indeed, is chiefly worth
noticing because it was in this way that Lestock, a man whose sub-
sequent behaviour rendered him notorious, began to come to the
front. His activity on these cruises attracted Byng's attention,
and gained him the name of a zealous officer. Sir George, in con-
sequence, chose him to command his flagship in the Mediterranean
campaign of the following year. The subsequent Baltic campaigns
were less active even than the campaign of 1717.
Nearer home, and on the Barbary coasts, meanwhile, the Navy
was finding work to do ; in the one case in connection with the
pro-Stuart rising, in the other, with the recrudescence of piracy.
The Pretender landed in December, 1715, and in the middle of
January, 1716, Sir John Jennings, Admiral of the White, was
appointed to the command of a squadron of ten ships wherewith
to cruise on the east coast and in the Firth of Forth. Other ships
cruised on the west coast, also for the suppression of the rebels,
while others again were kept in the Channel to restrain sympathetic
Frenchmen. A body of French officers, trying to escape from
Peterhead, was driven back ; but in spite of all precautions, the
Pretender himself contrived to get away safely. Some imputation
of negligence not unnaturally fell upon the Navy ; but the Govern-
ment was satisfied that reasonable diligence had been shown, and
published in the Gazette the following : —
"The Royal Anne, galley, Pearl, Port Malion, Deal Castle and Phoenix are
returned from cruising, it appears by the journal of Captain Stuart,' that he had early
intelligence of the Pretender having put to sea, in a clean-tallowed French snow, which
rowed out of the harbour and close in along shore a good way with her sails furled.
The Port Malion lay all that night within two leagues of the harbour's mouth, but
'twas so dark there was no seeing a sliip a quarter of a mile distant." -
Every precaution, indeed, seems to have been taken by the
refugees ; and it may be added that they appear to have been
' The Hon. Charles Stuart; born, 1681; Captain, 1704; Eear-Admiral, 1729;
Vice- Admiral, 1733 ; died, 174:0.
- Quoted in Lediard, 867.
VOL. III. S
258 MINOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1716.
aware of the disposition of the various cruisers. Leaving Montrose,
the snow stretched across to the coast of Norway, whence she
coasted southward and made GraveHnes in safety. The Chevalier
de St. George testified his gratitude and appreciation by knighting
Mark Forrester, her master. In spite of their failure to intercept
this snow, the English ships did good, if unostentatious, work in
helping to stamp out the embers of the revolt, chiefly, of course,
by co-operating with the troops when they chanced to touch
the shore.
Piracy in the Mediterranean continued to demand considerable
attention, but was at length dealt with by the Admiralty on some-
thing like a rational system. In other words, there were ships
constantly cruising against the Barbary pirates ; and there was
thus avoided the great and often bootless expense incurred by the
fitting out of occasional expeditions on a large scale. The reign is
marked by no such fight as that of Captain Kempthorne of the
Mary Bose in 16G9 ; but cruisers detached, first by John Baker
and after him by Charles Cornwall, the officers in command on
the station, did efficient service. Of these the Hind, 20, Captain
Arthur Delgarno, in May, 1716, took one Sallee rover, and, in
October following, another, of 24 guns. This latter ship resisted
for two and a half hours before she struck, and then promptly sank,
taking down with her all but thirty-eight of her men. The Bridge-
water, also, in the same year, drove two Sallee ships, each of
16 guns, ashore near their own port. The Barbaiy pirates, how-
ever, though a real nuisance, were not the only one of the kind,
nor, indeed, were they so serious an obstacle to commerce as they
had been in the seventeenth century. This was, as has been
mentioned, partly due to the constant watch kept upon their move-
ments. A more fonnidable species of piracj-, the piracy of romance,
flourished on the Spanish Main, and spread thence over the high
seas. The doings of the notorious Kidd have been recorded ;
the history of William Dampier shows with what ease British
seamen drifted into this evil course of hfe ; and it will be easily
understood that the Sir Francis Verneys and the Wards of the
era preferred to join the successors of Sawkins, primarily to plunder
the Spaniard, rather than to turn renegade and prey on their owoi
countrymen in the Mediterranean. But though piracy in the
West was a growing source of anxiety, the bulk of its exponents
confined their attentions with some strictness to foreign flags, and
1718.] " BLAOKBEAnn;' TIIK PI RATE. 259
some of them, notably Sir Henry Morgan, compared not unfavour-
ably with the gentleman adventurers of the Elizabethan age. Kidd,
it has been shown, was a decided exception; Avery was another;
and so also was Edward Thatch, commonly called Teach, or, more
commonly still, from his appearance, " Blackbeard." ^ Born in
Bristol about 1675, he had, through the War of the Spanish
Succession, served in privateers, and he did not turn his hand
to piracy till the end of ITKi. It is notorious that the pirates
of fact enjoyed, to an even greater degree than their brethren of
fiction, the short life and merry one supposed to belong to men
of their calling ; and for his enjoyment of existence, as well as
for his egregious brutality. Thatch stands forth from among many
short-lived contemporaries. About the end of 1717, he took a
large Guineaman, which he named the Queen Anne's Bevenge, and
in which he went cruising, after having mounted her with forty
guns. One of the first incidents of his cruise was the falling in
with H.M.S. Scarborough, 20, which he beat off after a fight
lasting for some hours. The governor of Carolina entered into
a league with him, and he chose the coasts of that colony and
of Virginia as his scene of operations, and continued haunting their
creeks and preying on the merchants, whether at sea or ashore,
till they petitioned the governor of Virginia to rid them of the
pest. The governor took counsel with the captains of the Lyme, 20,
and Pearl, 40, and concerted a scheme by which Lieut. Eobert
Maynard,- of the Pearl, was to command two small sloops against
Blackbeard, who had got rid of his great ships, and was lurking
in a sloop in Ocracoke Inlet, one of the entrances to Pamlico
Sound. The sloops under Maynard's command mounted no heavy
guns, while the pirates were known to be well armed in that
respect; but, on the other hand, the sloops had sweeps, which
their enemy had not. Maynard rowed into the passage on
November 21st, 1718, and with great difficulty, after lightening
his vessel, got close to Thatch, who had run aground. Meanwhile,
the pirate sloop floated, and by a broadside of langiidge, did great
damage among Maynard's men, who were much exposed by the
lowness in the waist of their ship. Maynard thereupon kept his
men below as much as possible ; upon which Blackbeard, thinking
' In Jolmson's ' Lives of the most Notorious Pirates,' he appears as Teach. In
official papers he is Thatch.
- Died, a caijtain of 1740, iu 1750.
s 2
260 MINOR OPEHATIONS, 1714-17G2. [1718-22.
that there were few left to deal with, boarded at the head of fifteen
men. The rival commanders engaged hand to hand, and the fight
went stubbornly on, as usual in such cases, till the pirate's death.
Besides those killed, fifteen pirates were taken, and of them thirteen
were hanged.' That Thatch had so few men with him was owing
to his having marooned or otherwise got rid of the bulk of his
company shortly before in consequence of a dispute as to the
distribution of prize-money.
There was no lack of men to carry on the abominable work ;
but even of the best known of these desperadoes, such as Stede
Bonnet, Edward England, John Eackam, and Howel Davis, none
arrests the attention in such a degree as Bartholomew Roberts.'^
Eoberts was, in 1718, mate of a ship which was plundered by
pirates on the Guinea coast, and, joining his captors, was elected
to the command on the death of Howel Davis, their captain. He
cruised with considerable success from Brazil to Newformdland,
and, in 1721, crossed over to the African coast, where, amongst
other prizes, he took a large ship belonging to the Eoyal Africa
Company. To this ship he tm-ned over, named her the Boijal
Fortinw, mounted forty guns in her, and with a 32-gun ship, under
a man named Skyrm, and a 24, continued his cruise. His luck
continued good till on February 21st, 1722, when he and Sk3Tm
lay anchored under Cape Lopez, there came down on him
H-M.S. Swalloir, 60, Captain Chaloner Ogle (1), which, since the
preceding year, had been on that coast. Ogle knew with whom
he had to deal ; and when Skyrm, taking him for a merchantman,
slipped in chase, he bore awaj' out of earshot of the Royal Fortune.
He then tm'ned upon Skynn, and, after a shai"p encounter, took
him. Eeturning to Cape Lopez and hoisting the French flag, he
lured Eoberts into attacking him. Eoberts, overmatched and taken
by sui-prise, made a desperate fight, which did not cease till he
himself had been killed. Of 262 prisoners taken it is well to
' Of the two who escaped the gallows one was Israel Hands, the master, who at the
time of the action was ashoi-e recovering from a wovmd received from Thatch, who had
a trick of hlowing out his cabin lights and firing cross-handed imder the table.
Another practice of Blackbeard's was to light sulphur in the ship's hold, and to try
who could longest withstand the fumes. This was by way of enlivening a dull cruise.
- Eoberts is said to have been the original of Scott's Cleveland in ' The Pirate,' but
the career of the real does not agree with that of the ideal. The doings of Eoberts, as
chronicled in Charles Johnson's ' General History of the Most Notorious Pirates,' are,
so far as can be ascertained, substantially correct.
1719.] MIO HELLS AT VIGO. 261
notice that 5'2 were hanged, and that only 77 were acquitted on trial.
The captured ships were taken to England, where they were
bestowed on Ogle,' who also for this good piece of work received
the honour of knighthood.
In the latter end of July, 1719, preparations were making in
England for a secret expedition against Spain. About fifty trans-
ports were got together to convey a force of four thousand men
under Viscount Cobham ; and, meanwhile, a small squadron was
sent ahead under Commodore Sir Robert Johnson, in the Weymouth,
to co-operate with the French who were then engaged in the siege
of San Sebastian. In the beginning of August, some French troops
and two hundred seamen were landed by the squadron at Fort San
Antonio. Owing to the strength of the batteries at the entrance
to the harbour, the force was landed some distance to the westward,
advancing from which direction, it destroyed the fortifications and
spiked the guns in the harbour. On September 1.5th, Johnson,
in the Weymouth, having the Winchester and Dursley Galley in
company, heard that there were two Spanish men-of-war and a
large merchantman lying in Eivadeo. Accordingly the Weymouth
and Winchester appeared off the port on the following day ; boats
were sent in to take soundings; and the two ships anchored alongside
the enemy and abreast of a battery of eight guns. The battery
was taken, the men-of-war were destroyed, and the merchantman
was brought off. In the meantime, the main expedition had sailed
and was looking for Johnson off the Spanish coast, in hopes of
gaining information from him. This force was commanded by
Vice-Admiral James Mighells, who, detached by Berkeley in the
spring, had learnt of the dispersal of the Spanish fleet intended for
the invasion of Scotland. The object now before Mighells, and
the soldiers under Cobham whom he convoyed, was to proceed to
Vigo and retaliate for this intended insult. Sailing from St. Helen's
on September 21st, 1719, the expedition made Vigo on the '29th
without being joined by Johnson. The fleet at once entered the
harbour and landed the troops about three miles from the town.
On October 1st, the army occupied a strong position iinder the
walls ; whereupon the enemy spiked the guns in their batteries
and withdrew to the citadel. A bomb ketch was brought up on
the 3rd ; but as she could do little, owing to the greatness of the
range, some forty odd mortars were put ashore ; and on the 4th,
' Captains' Letters, O 2.
262 MlNOli OPEUATIONS, 1714-1762. [1720.
Fort Sail Sebastian, which had been occiapied, was armed with
heavy guns from the fleet. The citadel, upon that, surrendered,
its garrison of four hundred and sixty-nine officers and men
marching out on the 10th. The town, it was decided, could not
be held ; but a large quantity of guns, small arms, and ammunition,
which had been collected for the invasion of England, was taken
and brought home. Seven ships, also, were seized in the harbour,
of which three were fitting out for privateers. On the 14th, the
ships reduced Ponte Vedra, at the upper end of the harbour.
There, too, many gi;ns were found ; so that the total number
brought home was one hundred and ninety iron and thirty brass
heavy guns, with ten thousand stand of small arms, two thousand
barrels of powder, and other warlike stores. On November 11th,
Vice-Admiral Mighells put into Falmouth with the Enterprize,
Kingsale, and Biddeford, and with most of the transports. The
expedition had been prompt and successful : it had fully attained its
object ; and by sickness, desertion, and the sword it had lost no
more than three hundred men.
The difficulties experienced by British merchants in the Spanish
settlements of the west were a heritage of the days of Elizabeth, and
were by no means smoothed away by the many treaties which had
been entered into between the two nations.^ It is not possible here
to enter into an examination of these treaties ; let it suffice to say
that, by forbidding, save under the harshest restrictions, all traffic,
except, of course, that in negroes, which had been granted by the
Assiento, they put a premimn on smuggling. We know the tra-
ditional attitude of English and Spaniards to one another in the
New World, and we have noticed the growth of piracy, testifying to
the existence of a considerable proportion of unsettled spirits among
the British inhabitants of the American colonies. When we con-
sider both the evergreen national hatred, and the bitterness with
which the guarda costas must have regarded the enterprising and
unscrupulous smugglers, we cannot wonder at the tales of brutaht}'
on the part of the Spaniards ; but we must also be 'prepared to
believe that the Spaniards spoke the truth wWn they insisted that
the British traders of the islands were not always the lambs
they professed to be, and were, in many cases, but little removed
from pirates. There always has been ill-feeling about the right of
' The texts of these treaties will be found at length in Eousset de Missy, ' Eecueil
Historique ' ; and in Jean Dumont, ' Corps Universel Diplomatique,' vol. viii.
1728-33.] DIFFICULTIES WITH SPAIN. 2G3
search — probably there always will be — nor are we to believe that a
guarda costa, boarding a Jamaica smuggler in 1720, acted with such
civility as we expect from the Customs' House nowadays. On the
contrary, as he often had considerable difficulty in catching his
suspect, he was prone to try to catch him where he could, and to
scruple little whether he caught him in Spanish waters or on the
high seas. Such was the state of affairs, and it is clear that it was
bound, sooner or later, to lead to war. Before passing on to the
war itself, it will be interesting to examine in some detail one or two
of the incidents that thus led up to it.
In the latter part of 1728, a Spanish guarda costa sighted and
bore down on the Dursley Galley, 20, mistaking her for a merchant-
man, and with the intention of searching her. Naturally, the
Dwrsley Galley did not bring to, and the Spaniard opened fire, which
the British ship warmly returned. After a sliort fight, in which the
guarda costa lost five men killed and twenty wounded, the Spaniard
surrendered. That she was shortly afterwards released was due
simply to the fact that there was no reason for keeping her, and
Lediard ^ is undoubtedly wrong when he points to this as illustrative
of the difference between Spanish and English methods. As will
presently be shown, British ships that were detained were, at any
rate in most cases, legally detained as being smugglers. The next
incident to be mentioned was connected with the vexed question of
the gathering of salt at the Tortugas. It must be remembered that
the right to gather salt,^ like the right to cut logwood at Campeche,
was denied to the English by the Spaniards, although, in point of
fact, it had actually been acknowledged by the Convention of
Madrid. Early in 1733, a fleet of British ships under escort of the
Scarborough, 20, Captain Thomas Durell (1),^ was loading salt at
the Tortugas, when there came down on it two Spanish men-of-
war, one of sixty, and the other of seventy guns.* Four of the
merchantmen, viz., the Catherine, Two Sisters, Hopeivell, and Three
Brothers, were taken at the outset before the Scarborough could
cover her convoy ; but after that she managed to engage the atten-
tion of the Spaniards so well that the rest of the salt ships made
good their escape.
A point that is apt to be passed over in such an account as this is
that two Spanish ships of the line were quite equal to making miuce-
■ Lediard, 913. • " Captains' Letters, D 4.
- Kousset de Missy, i. 411. * Beatson, i. 22.
'264: MINOR OFEHATION.S, 17M-1T62. [1731.
meat of the Scarhoroii(/h first and of her convoy afterwards, had they
been so inchned. It would appear, then, that the Spaniards, whose
force seems to be exaggerated, and who were probably heavy coast-
guard cruisers, believed themselves to be engaging merely in the
reprisals customary in those parts, and that, when they found that
they had before them a King's ship, they refused to fight her for fear
of involving themselves in serious diplomatic entanglements.
Whether the guarda costas are to be regarded as privateers or
not, there is interest in a letter written from Jamaica by Commodore
Edward St. Loe, to Burchett, at the Admiralty, in May, 1728.'
Complaining that Spanish privateers infested the Jamaican coasts,
he said : —
" It's my opinion I could go in and destroy most of them had I but His Majesty's
jiermission. They, according to my notion, are no better than pirates, having no
commission for what they do, save from the governor of the place."
This is the opinion of a man qualified to judge. It may be
tempered by that of another naval officer who commanded on that
station, and who certainly held no brief for the Spaniards. This
was Kear-Admiral the Hon. Charles Stuart, who was sent out to
Jamaica in the Lion on December 9th, 1729, to take over the
command of the station in succession to St. Loe. Stuart seems to
have begun his commission with the prevailing belief that the fault
lay with the Spaniards, but his attitude changed somewhat as time
went on, and as his knowledge of the British merchants increased.
Writing on October 12th, 1731, to the Duke of Newcastle, he
admitted that the British carried on the trade at their own risk, and
that the ships were good prize if taken. This, he said, led them to
retaliate by robbing such Spaniards as they could ovei-power, and he
added : —
" I can assure you that the sloops that sail from this island manned and armed on
that illicit trade, have more than once bragged to me of having murdered seven or eight
Spaniards on their own shore. I can't help observing that I believe I am the first
military person who has stood up in the defence of peace and quietness, and for
delivering up vessels, against a parcel of men who call themselves merchants, but they
are no better than pedlars, and one of them formerly in jail for piracy."
His plea for peace and quietness maj' have been merely the outcome
of his knowledge that, as the British had by far the greater number
of ships in those seas, reprisals would be a losing game. That truth
was abundantly evidenced when war broke out ; for from September,
' Home Office Records, Admiralty, No. (56, quoted iu ' Eng. Hist, llev.,' iv. 741.
1731.] nniTisn and .spanish cruklties. 2(j5
1739, to November, 1741, the Spaniards took 331 British ships as
against only 231 of their own which they lost.'
On September 12th, 1731, Stuart wrote to the governoi- of
Havana a strong letter of complaint. It had been hoped that a
better condition of affairs was abovit to begin, as the King of Spain,
in response to pressure from England, had sent instructions to his
colonial governors to mitigate their harshness to British traders.
But this proclamation was bound to be without effect, for it ex-
empted from its protection all such ships as were engaged in the
illicit trade, while leaving it to the governors concerned to draw the
necessary distinction between legal and illegal traffic.- So it was
that Stuart never lacked cause of complaint, and, in the instance
cited,^ made mention "particularly of one Fandino, and others who
have committed the most cruel piratical outrages . . . particularly
about the 20th April last, sailed out of your harbour in one of those
guarda costas, and met a ship of this island,^ bomid for England . . ."
and so forth, giving the well-known traditional details of the no-
torious Jenkins case. He ended this letter with, " The king, my
master, having reason to believe that these repeated insiilts on his
subjects could never be continued but by the connivance of the
several Spanish governors in these parts, is determmed to endeavour
to put a stop to these piratical proceedings." But at the same time
he was much attacked by the merchants, who objected strongly to
his saying that they exaggerated their case, and who resented his
interference with their illicit trade, and his endeavours to repress
their cruelties.
Juan de Leon Fandino, probably more from the accident of his
having handled Jenkins than for any other reason, stands out from
among the guarda costa officers. On September 9th, 1731, he de-
tained and plundered the Prince WiUicun, William Joy, master, but
this ship was released a month later. Not so the Dolphin, Benjamin
Carkett, master, which was taken by Fandino in July, and sent into
Havana. She was adjudged legal prize, as the governor wrote to
Stuart ; but he added that he intended to chastise Spanish privateers,
' Lists in Gent. Miuj. 1741, pp. (!89-G'J8.
^ Beatson, i. 15.
^ This letter, taken fiom Home Office Records, Admiralty, No. 69, is priuted in
' Eng. Hist. Eev.,' vol. iv.
■* Jenkins's ship, the lUbecca, is not here mentioned bj' name, but is identified with
this vessel by a list of ships taken or plundered liy the Spaniards down to December,
1737. The Rebecca was taken on April 9th, which in the new style would be the L'Oth.
266 MINOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1731-42.
who were now no longer necessary, and whose commissions he had
revoked. Stuart, however, must stop ships coming from Jamaica to
Cuba, where British and Dutch ships were then to be found all
through the year.
^Vhat ultimately became of Fandino falls into its place here,
though chronologically the story should be postponed. On June 4th,
1742, among the Bahamas, Captain Thomas Frankland, of the Hose,
fell in with, and chased, four ships, which showed British colours.
He chased under the same, and, overhauling them, fired a gun.'
The chase then hoisted the Spanish flag, and fought him furiously,
using all sorts of missiles, from broadsides of shot to poisoned arrows.
Frankland, however, held his fire for the fourth ship, a snow, which
seemed the strongest, giving the others only a few guns as they
chanced to bear. The first three sheered off badly hulled.
"I then endeavoured," says Frankland, "to laj' the snow aboard, which she
shunned with the utmost caution, maintaining a warm fire till I had torn her almost to
rags, the commander having determined rather to sink than strike, for reasons you'll
hereafter be sensible of: but in about four hours the people, in opposition to the captain,
hauled down the colours."
The prize mounted ten carriage guns, as many swivels, and had a
crew of over eighty men.
" The captain is Juan de Leon Fandino. ... He is the man that commanded the
guard of coast out of the Havana that took Jenkins when his ears were cut off. . . .
Not but such a desperado with his crew of Indians, Midattoes and Negroes could have
a cted as he did, for we were at least two hours within pistol shot of him keeping a
constant fire."
So much for a stor}^ which has long been accounted a myth, both
from its intrinsic improbability, and from the circumstance that
Jenkins, like other merchant skippers who gave evidence before the
House of Commons in 1738, was not on oath.-
In 1739, as has been seen, reprisals were ordered, and instructions
to that effect were sent out to Commodore Charles Brown at Jamaica,
whose broad pennant was then flying in the Hampton Court.^ The
bearer of this dispatch was the Hon. Edward Boscawen, of the
ShoreJiam, who joined Brown at Port Eo_yal on August 6th, and,
' Captains' Letters, F.
- Mr. Lecky's opinion of the truth of the story is given on ]-.age 51 of this volume;
and neither Stuart's nor Frankland's letter really goes far towards contradicting that
opinion. — W. L. C.
' The Hampton Courts log is of little value ; details of the cruise will be found in
the Commodore's log, bound up with his dispatches in Admirals' Dispatches 1738-
1742, Jamaica, in the Public Record Office.
1739.] WAh' WITH SPAIN. 267
after whose accession, the squadron consisted, hesides the two ships
named, of the FabnoutJi, Diamond, Torrington, Windsor and Drake.
Brown at once proceeded to carry out his orders, and on the following
day the Drake and the Hampton Court's barge brought in a schooner.
On the 14th the whole squadron left Port Eoyal, and proceeded
round Cuba on a cruise, during which, owing to the scarcity of
Spanish ships, they did no great amount of damage, but managed to
collect reliable information as to the strength and distribution of
Spanish men-of-war in those seas. On September 3rd, Captain
Charles Knowles, of the Diamond, was detached in pursuit of a
strange sail, and did not rejoin. The SJioreham was the most
successful ship of the squadron. In her, Boscawen reconnoitred
Havana, and, near that port, destroyed two sloops and took another,
while a little later, about September 15th, he landed at Porto Maria,
and burnt a large quantity of timber and other stores. He was there
attacked by two half galleys and a sloop, l)ut they kept in such shoal
water that the Shoreham, though hulled more than once, could not
get close enough to harm them. Meanwhile, a small fort between
Matanzas and Havana was destroyed. Brown, having stayed for
twelve days off Havana in hopes of falling in with a Spanish
squadron, learnt that none was expected, and, leaving the Windsor
and Falmouth to cruise there till the end of the month, proceeded
round the western end of the island, and, on October '28th, anchored
in Port Eoyal. There he found the Diamond, which had made two
captures — a ship and a brigantine, said to be worth .£30,000. These,
with two other small sloops taken, and a few large canoes, represent
the total damage done. In Port Eoyal lay Vernon's squadron, to
which Brown had by that time become attached.
Active warfare was at first entirely confined to the West Indies ;
and in European seas the first action of importance took place when
the Princesa, 64, six hundred men, of the Spanish Ferrol squadron,
fell in with the Lenox, Kent, and Or/ord, which had been detached
from Vice-Admiral John Balchen's squadron. These three ships,
with the St. Albans and liipon, had been cruising to intercept a
convoy of treasure ships under Pizarro, but saw nothing of them.
Pizarro, for his success on this service, was appointed immediately
to command the expedition which was sent out to round Cape Horn
and to act as a check on Anson. The Princesa was sighted at
9 A.M. on April 8th, 1740, and was at once chased by the three ships,
viz., Lcno.r, 70, Captain Covill Mayne, Kent, 70, Captain Thomas
268 MINOR OFERATIONH, 1714-1762. [1740.
Durell (1), and Orford, 70, Captain Lord Augustus Fitzroy (1).'
The chase was then under French colours ; but, when the Orford
drew up soon after half-past ten, she hoisted Spanish. About eleven
the Lenox also drew close up, and opened fire with her chase-guns,
being soon followed by the Orford. All three ships came into close
action and gave her many broadsides, for the most part within pistol
shot ; but she made a most stubborn defence, and, though she became
ungovernable, owing to the loss of her foretopmast, early in the en-
gagement, she proved capable of a gi'eat deal of passive resistance. In
explanation of this it was pointed out at the time that she was more
heavily armed than the British 70's. The Spanish establishment was,
24-prs. on the lower deck, 18-prs. on the upper deck, and 8-prs. on the
quarter deck and forecastle, as against 24, 12, and 6-prs. in the British
Navy ; but it is possible that the Princcsa may have had heavier guns
mounted. She was moreover of very stout scantling, and, having small
portholes, was, defensively at any rate, a most powerful ship. It has
also been suggested that, as a fresh breeze was blowing, the British
ships could not use their lower deck guns. This was not so. Covill
Mayne makes special mention of sending the enemy broadsides from
his lower, upper, and quarter-deck guns. The reports clash some-
what ; but, roughly, the middle part of the action seems to have
been fought with the Princesa out of hand, the Kent on her larboard
beam, and the Lenox or Orford on her starboard side, and the third
ship always under her stern, raking her fore and aft. In the after-
noon the Orford had her fore rigging so much disabled that she
dropped astern and had to lie to to knot and splice ; but meanwhile
the raking fire from the Lenox had carried away the Princesa's main
and mizen masts. The Orford, having repaired damages, drew up
again ; and thereupon the enemy struck her colours, having main-
tained an almost hopeless struggle with the utmost gallantry for
close on seven houi's. Not unnaturally Lord Augustus Fitzroy
claimed that she had struck to him, and sent the first boat on board,
following closely himself. To Covill Mayne's indignation he
received the sword of her commander, Don Pablo Agustin de
Aguirre, and took charge of her papers. There was some angry
protest, but the matter seems to have blown over. The prize, rated
as a 70, continued for some years as one of the best two-deckers in
the British Navy.
The next operation that falls within the scheme of this chapter
' Captains" Letters, vols, il i', and F 5.
1740.]
THE FLORIDA EXrKDlTJON.
269
was not so satisfactory to British pride. General Ogletliorpe,
commanding the troops on the North American station, conceived
the notion that it would be to His Majesty's service to take
St. Augustine, in Florida.^ Accordingly he consulted with the
General Assembly of Carolina, asking what troops could be spared
to him ; and he also gained the adherence to his plan of Captain
Vincent Pearce (1), of the Flainhowuf/li, the Commodore on the
station. The project was first suggested to Pearce in January, 1740 ;
but the general found some difficulty in putting it on a working
basis, and it was not till April that he renewed his request for the
co-operation of his ships. These were : —
Ships.
t_: uuft.
Cummauders.
Flamhorough
20
Captain
Vincent Pearce (1).
Bector
44
.,
Sir Yelverton Peyton, Bart.
Squirrel
20
„
Peter Warren.
Phoenix
20
Cliarles Fanshaw.
Tartar
22
the Hon. George Townslicud.
Speiice
6'
„
William Laws.
Wolf .
8
Commauder AVilliam Dandridge.
Eawk .
6^
and a sclioi-Hier.
8
i auil teu swivels.
' ami f'-'ur swivt-ls.
When Oglethorpe's request was finally made the squadron was
just on the point of starting on a cruise, and was therefore in
perfect readiness for immediate action. The Squirrel was sent off
St. Augustine pending the arrival of the rest of the force ; and
she was annoyed by six half-galleys that lay there, and which, during
calms and light winds, proved of considerable service to the
Spaniards. The Wolf was sent on to join Warren towards the
end of April, and on the 28th the Squirrel took a sloop belonging
to the king of Spain. This prize mounted eight 4-prs. and six
swivels, and had eight thoiisand pieces of eight on board. In May
the Hector and Spence joined the ships off the bar of St. Augustine,
Pearce meanwhile lying in St. John's Eiver co-operating with the
troops then on the advance from the northward. Two small forts,
St. Francis de Pupa and Fort Diego, were taken by Oglethoi-pe,
who then returned to the mouth of the St. John's Kiver, wheiace
on May 31st a general advance was made. On June 1st Pearce
proceeded off St. Augustine, and found the Spaniards getting away
their guns from a battery on the Island of St. Eustatia. He
' Captains" Letters, vol. P 8.
'270 MlNOn OPERATIONS, 17J 4-1762. [1740.
promptly sent in his boats, ordering the Wolf and Bpence to cover
the attack ; but the enemy gave no trouble, making off into the
harbour on the approach of the boats. On June 5th it was decided
at a council of war that the ships could remain on that coast
till July 5th ; on the 7th there was another skimiish with the
galleys ; and on the 13th the island was occupied by two hundred
seamen and as many soldiers. Two days later Colonel Palmer was
killed at Fort Moosa and his party driven back ; a serious reverse
which gave the enemy free communication to the landward.
Meanwhile guns were brought into position on the island, and
two small craft were fitted to serve against the galleys, there being
so little water on the bar that the ships could not get in. On
June '20th the governor was summoned to surrender, but promptly
refused. Deserters soon afterwards came into the British camp
with news that the galleys were very badly manned and could easily
be taken. As it had been discovered that the range was so great
that the guns on the island could have little effect, a council of war
was held with the view of seeing whether this information should
be acted upon. Pearce, however, was averse from taking the risk :
possibly he had doubts of the deserters ; and he persisted in his
refusal though the land officers offered to put one hundred soldiers
into the boats to take the places of those seamen who were absent
in the batteries ashore. On this Colonel Vanderdussen pointed out
how badly off the troops would be when the ships left the coast ;
for the galleys would cut their communications. Pearce found that
there was no port near where he could lay his ships up for the
hurricane season ; and, not being too well manned, he had to refuse
a request that he would leave two hmidred seamen to reinforce the
troops. It was by that time July ; and the moment had come
when, in accordance with the council of war of June 5th, the ships
were to leave the coast. Without any friction, therefore, between
Oglethorpe and Pearce, it was decided that nothing fm-ther could be
done,^ and on the 5th the whole force withdi-ew, the ships covering
it from any attempt on the part of the galleys.
In July, 1741, Captain Curtis Barnet, of the Dragon, 60, was
detached from Vice-Admiral Nicolas Haddock's squadron with the
two 44-gun ships, Feversham and Folkestone, and with orders to
cruise in the neighbourhood of the Strait of Gibraltar. Being off
' BovmJ up with Pearce's letters are his log for three months, the minutes of the
councils of war, and letters from Oglethorpe, Vanderdussen, Peyton and others.
1741.] BARNET AND BE CATLUS. 271
Cape Spartel on the "iStli of the month he chafed and came up with
three ships, which he had reason to beheve were two Spanish
register ships under convoy of a frigate. The Fevrrslnini had fallen
astern, and the other two ships did not come up with the strangers
till after dark. Barnet hailed to know what they were, and was
answered that they were Frenchmen from Martinique. He explained
that he was an English man-of-war, and that it was his duty to
satisfy himself that they were not Spaniards ; but, to his demand
that his boat should be allowed to board them, he received no
response save incivilities. Finding that he could do nothing by
talking, and being confirmed in his belief that the ships were really
Spanish, he opened fire, after due warning. The ships were, how-
ever, really French, being the Boree, 62, the Aquilon, 46, and the
Flore, 26,^ under the command of Captain de Caylus, in the first
named. A brisk action ensued, and the British ships, as the Fever-
sham was still far astern, being somewhat at a disadvantage, soon
found themselves obliged to lie to for half an hour to knot and splice.
In the morning, they and their consort again came up with the
Frenchman, and a boat was sent on board the Boree under a flag of
truce. The truth at once appeared ; but it also appeared that the
ships, being on their way from the West Indies, and knowing the
state of relations between the two countries, were under the convic-
tion that war had broken out. Barnet's lieutenant was requested to
swear before the French officers whether this were the case or not,
and was able to satisfy them that the two monarchies were still at
peace. It is hard to say that either Barnet or De Caylus was to
blame ; but the trouble might have been avoided had INI. de
Pardaillan, the captain of the Aquilon, been less suspicious of a
British ship ranging alongside cleared for action. The blame really
lay with the government which, though knowing that war was
inevitable, hesitated to declare it. As it was, the ships parted with
mutual apologies, and with a loss in killed of eleven men on the
British side, and of about thirty-five, among whom was M. de
Pardaillan, on board the French ships. All the vessels, moreover,
had their masts and rigging much cut.
Meanwhile, in the West Indies, several of the cruisers which
were detached by Vernon had better fortune than the main fleet.
Some fell in with register ships of considerable value, and others did
good service by capturing dispatch vessels. Of these latter the
' Fronde, i. 289. " Barnet's letter in Beatsou, iii. ol.
272 MINOR OPERATIONS, 17U-17G2. [1742.
Worcester, (iO, took a Spanish 24-gun ship bearing dispatches to the
viceroy of Mexico, and the Squirrel, 20, Captain Peter Warren,
captured a large privateer belonging to Santiago de Cuba. It is
said that the importance of this prize lay in information gained from
her papers that the French squadron, under M. d'Antin at Port
Louis, was intended to join with the Spaniards at Havana.' Be that
as it may, M. d'Antin's squadron was rendered ineffective by putrid
fever,^ and the breach with France was postponed. Captiires in the
West Indies, as in home waters, were frequent ; but so great was
the number of the enemy's privateers, and so large the number of
British merchantmen, that the balance was not in favour of Great
Britain ; and the London merchants, dissatisfied with the conduct
of the war, fell to petitioning Parhament for a redress of grievances.^
Early in the next year the Tiger, 50, Captain Edward
Herbert (1), was lost on a key near Tortuga. The crew got
safely ashore with a quantity of stores and provisions, and raised
on the island a fortification, in which they mounted twenty of the
ship's guns. It was well that they did so, for the Spaniards, hearing
of the misadventure, sent the Fuerte, 60, to capture them. She was,
however, lost in the attempt, and the Tiger's men, after two months
on the island, managed in their boats to take a sloop, in which thej'
reached Jamaica. Though several prizes of value were made during
the year, 1742, there was only one that calls for note. This was
the guarda costa already mentioned, commanded by Fandino, the
man who is alleged to have ill-treated Jenkins, and whose capture
has been described as a fitting conclusion to the Jenkins episode.*
The Spaniards at that time sent out a new governor to Cartagena,
and with him a reinforcement of over a thousand men. The troops
were in five ships of the Caracas company, of which two mounted
40, two 30, and the fifth 12 guns. The squadron was dispersed b}' a
hurricane, and two of the ships were lost, while the others, one of
the 40's and both the 30's, fell in on April 12th, 1742, with the
Elthain, 40, Captain Edward Smith, and the Lively, 20, Com-
mander Henry Stewart. After some hours' hard fighting, night
ended the engagement, and the Spaniards bore up for Puerto Bico.
As they had lost in killed and wounded some six hundred men,
' Beatson, i. 115.
^ Poissomiier Desperrieres, 'Maladie.5 des gens de Mer,' p. 2tl5,
» Beatson, i. 121-25. See also Gent. Marj. 17-11, pp. 689-698.
* See above, pp. 51 and 26G.
1743.] MATHEWS IN THE MEDITEItRANEAN. 273
including the new governor among the former, it' may be said that
the reinforcement had been practically annihilated.
On September 21st, 1742, the Navy sustained a heavy loss in the
destruction of the Tilbiiri/, (iO, Captain Peter Lawrence, by fire, off
Hispaniola. The cause of the accident was a drunken scuffle ; and
the whole of the story, down to the loss of one hundred men, corre-
sponds almost exactly with that of the destruction of the Paragon
during Penn's return from the West Indies in June, 1655.^
The destruction of five Spanish galleys at St. Tropez in June,
1742, was a spirited piece of service. Captain Eichard Norris, of
the Kingston, 60, had been detached, with the Oxford, 50, and Duke,
fireship, in company, to blockade them ; but as St. Tropez, being a
French port, was neutral, there would have been no attack had not the
galleys been so ill-advised as to fire upon the British. On June 13th,
therefore, Norris gave orders to Commander Smith Callis, of the
Duke, to go in and do his utmost to destroy the galleys at the mole.
Calhs went in on the 14th, and fired his ship with such good effect,
that the whole of the five were destroyed. So rapidly did he carry
oiit his orders that nothing was saved from the Duke, not even the
ship's or officers' papers.^ For his success, Callis was posted to the
Assistance.
Early in 1743, Vice- Admiral Thomas Mathews, hearing that the
Spanish ship San Isidoro, 70, was lying in the Bay of Ajaccio, sent
in the Ipsivich, 70, Captain William Martin (1), Revenge, 70, Captain
George Berkeley, and the Anne Galley, fireship, to bring her out.
Her captain refused to yield to the odds arrayed against him, and
opened fire, but finding it impossible to hold the ship, he ordered her
to be biu'nt. She blew up before all her people had been taken out
of her, and a considerable nmnber of men perished.
Apart from this piece of work, there was little done in the
Mediterranean, though the cruisers continued to send in prizes, and
to annoy the enemy's coast. In June, however, the enemy contrived
so far to avoid the blockading squadron as to carry fifteen shiploads
of warlike stores from Majorca to Genoa for the use of the army in
Italy. Mathews at once appeared off that port with six sail of the
line, and overawed the Genoese into sending the supplies back to
Corsica, there to lie till the conclusion of the war.
' Beatsou, i. 149.
2 See above. Vol. II. p. 208.
' Captains' Letters, C 14. Callis to Thomas Corbctt, August lltli, 1742.
VOL. III. T
274 MINOR UI'EHATIONS, 1714-1762. [1744.
The following year, 1744, was very far from being a fortunate
one for the British navy. The fiasco off Toulon was supplemented
by the capture of the Sea/ord, '20, Solebai/, 20, and Grampus, 14, by
de Kochambeau, by the throwing away of the Northumherland, 70,
and by the loss, through stress of weather, of the Victory, 100,'
Orford, 70, ColcheHter, 50, St. Albans, 50, Greenwich, 50, and other
ships of less value. Against this tale of disaster we could oppose
merely the capture of the Medee, 26, on April 27th, by the Dread-
nought, 50, Captain the Hon. Edward Boscawen,'-^ and Grampus, 14,
which formed part of the fleet of Vice- Admiral Sir Charles Hardy (1),
off the coast of Portugal.
Of these misfortunes that requiring most particular notice here is
the loss of the Northumberland. This ship, commanded by Captain
Thomas AVatson (1), was detached in chase of a strange sail on
May 8th by the Vice-Admiral, who was then homeward bound from
the Tagus. In view of the sequel, it is w'orth remembering that
Watson was a good and brave officer, favourably known in the
service for his work as Vernon's flag-captain at Puerto Bello and
Cartagena. But his skull had been fractured, and his mind im-
paired, so that "a small matter of liquor rendered him quite out of
order, which was his unhappy fate that day." ^ The weather grew
thick, the chase was lost sight of, and the signal was made for the
Northumberland' s recall ; but Watson held on. Soon three sail
were made out to leeward, and as he bore down on them under a
press of sail, it was seen that they were two two-decked ships and a
frigate. They were, in point of fact, the
>bii)&. 'ilm?^. (.'ummauders.
Content ... 64 Captain de Conflaus.
Mars .... 1)4 „ du Perrier.
Venus .... 26 „ d'Aclie.
The French ships lay to under topsails, while the Northumberland
bore down on them. Properly handled, the British ship would have
' See the previous chapter.
- Boscawen's nickcanie in tlie service dates from this time. The seamen transferred
tlie name of the ship to the man ; and lie went through life as " Old Dreadnought."
^ 'A true and authentic Narrative of the action between i[\e Northumherland and
tliree French men of war" .... By an Eye Witness. 8vo, 1745.
1744.] VAPTirni': OF Till': NOIlTlIUMBKItLANn. 275
had them at a disadvantai,'(!, for they were widely separated, and the
Content, a mile to windward of her consorts, made no attempt to
rejoin them. Watson, therefore, had the option of disa])ling her
before the others could interfere, or of following the counsel of his
master, Dixon, who advised him to stand close-hauled to the north-
ward ' under a press of sail, and so to lead the enemy across the
course of the British fleet. This advice was disregarded, and no
reasonable nor customary measures were taken to put the ship into a
fit state for action.
" We bore down so precipitately that our small .sails were not stowed, nor top-
gallant sails furled, before the enemy began to tire on us, and at tlie same time we had
the cabins to clear away ; the hammocks were not stowed as they should be ; in short
we had nothing in order."
Instead of engaging the weathermost ship, the Content, Watson ran
down to leeward without answering her fire, and so had to deal at
once with his three enemies. Even then, there was no real reason
why the ship should be taken, for the French gunnery was so
extremely bad that she was little hurt, and had but few men killed.
But Watson fell early in the action, none of the lieutenants were on
deck to take command, and the Master ordered the colours to be
struck, though there was fight enough left both in the ship and in
her crew. The Northuinheiiaud was taken into Brest, and till the
1st of June, 1794, for fifty years, the trophy name found a place on
French navy lists. When the officers returned to England from
their captivity, a court-martial was held. The first lieutenant,
Thomas Craven, was honourably acquitted, but Dixon, the master,
was condemned for surrendering the ship. The court took into
consideration the good advice which he had given his captain before
the action, and sentenced him only to be imprisoned for life in the
Marshalsea. The court foiind also " that Captain Watson had
behaved very rashly and inconsiderately, to which was owing chiefly
the loss of her " ; but death had settled his account. -
The hurricane that devastated Jamaica on October 20th was one
of the most violent upon record. Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle (1) was
at sea with a great part of the fleet, and so escaped its fury ; but
eight ships of the Eoyal Navy, besides a great number of merchant-
men, were either wrecked or driven ashore. The Greenwich, 50,
' The wind was westerly.
- Minutes of Court Martial held at Portsmouth on February 1st, 1744-5. R. 0.
vol. 27.
T 2
276 MINOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1745.
Captain Edward Allen, was sunk, with the loss of her captain, a
heuteuant, and seventy men ; the Lark, hulk,' sank, and one hundred
and ten men with her; and the St. Albans, 50, Captain William
Knight, Bonetta, sloop, Commander WiUiam Lea, and Thunder,
bomb, were also total losses. The Prince of Orange, 60, Montagu,
60, and Experiment, 20, went ashore, but were got off again.^ The
histoiy of the year at sea was about as disheartening as possible ; and
1745 saw no marked improvement.
On Januaiy 6th, 1745, four sail of the line, the Hampton Court, 70,
Captain Savage Mostyn ; Captain, 70, Captain Thomas Griffin (1) ;
Sunderland, 60, Captain John Brett ; and Dreadnought, 60, Captain
Thorpe Fowke, cruising off Ushant, sighted and gave chase to three
French ships to the north-east. These were the Neptune, 74, and
Fleuron, 64, homeward bound from Martinique, with a vast quantity
of specie on board, worth four millions sterling, it is said, and in
company with the privateer Mars, George Walker, master, which
they had captm-ed two days before. As the captain of the Fleuron
told Walker, who was a prisoner on board his ship, the French
commodore had made a great mistake in interrupting his journey to
Brest for so trifling an object as the Mars. This was hardly compli-
mentaiy to Walker, who at that time, wath Fortunatus Wiight, did
as much to uphold British prestige at sea as any captains of the
Eoyal Kavj' ; but it was true, and, had the two French ships fallen,
they would richly have deserved their fate. As it was, thej' were not
captui'ed ; and the storj', as disclosed in the subsequent court-martial,^
and in an able comment thereon addressed to the House of Commons,*
is very unpleasant reading.
It is desirable here to enter into the matter in some detail,
for it shows the alanning state to which British naval prestige
had fallen, and it explains the necessity for the new Naval Discipline
Act of 1749.
The French ships, after their long passage, were both sicklj- and
foul, and the English, with a fresh southerlj- breeze, gi-aduall}- crept
up. The Captain, the leading ship, kept away after the Mars, and
took possession of her at dusk, lea^^ng the others to continue the
^ Formerly a 44-gun ship.
^ Beatson, i. 193.
' Minutes of the Court Martial, etc. 1745, 8to.
* ' An Enquiry into the Conduct of Captain Most}-n, being remarks on the Minutes
of the Court Martial, etc. Humbly addressed to the Hon. House of Commons by a
Sea Officer.' 1745, 8to.
1745.] BETIAVIOVR OF CAPTAIN MOSTYN. 277
chase. The Sunderland carried away her main topmast, and dropped
astern ; but at sunset the Hampton Court was close up with the
enemy. The DreadnougJit, sailing very badly, could not quite get
up, and Mostyn shortened sail to wait for her. All through the
night and during the next day, the position continued the same,
the Dreadnought sailing no faster than the chase and the Hampton
Court not engaging without her. At last, after ranging abreast of
the Neptune, but out of gunshot to windward, Mostyn decided that
nothing could be done, and left the French to carry their valuable
cargo into Brest. ^ Of course the two ships ought to have been
taken. Griffin, who was senior officer, had no business to bear
away after the Mars ; yet, apart from that, it was Mostyn's duty
to have engaged as soon as he came up, and to have detained the
enemy till the Dreadnought could get into action. Griffin, at the
court-martial, stated that when he bore away he believed the Mars
alone to be a ship of war and the other two to be merchantmen
under her convoy. He was accordingly acquitted ; but, as the
other three ships had no doubt whatever as to the nature of the
Neptune and Fleuron, and as the Captain was nearest to them, the
opinion of the service was unfavourable to the commanding officer
of the ship last named. As for Mostyn, the evidence went that, in
the fresh breeze that was blowing, the Hampton Court's lower deck
ports could not be opened, while both the enemy's ships could fight
all their guns, to leeward as well as to windward. It was further
stated that the Hampton Court lay along so much that shot from
her upper deck guns, at extreme elevation, would have struck the
water fifty yards from their muzzles. This, however, was mere
conjecture, and does not explain why not a shot was tried. It
might have been possible to knock away a spar, and to give the
Dreadnought a chance of coming into action. As to the French-
man's lower deck guns being run out to leeward, the writer of the
appeal to the House of Commons " points out that the witness who
swore to this fact proved too much. Those on board the Hampton
Court, in her position to windward, were not in a condition to see
whether the enemy's lee ports were open or not. There was no
cross-examination; and the Court decided that Mostyn "had done
his duty as an experienced good officer, and as a man of courage
' The Fleuron was, however, blown up in Brest harhmii- before her treasure could
be taken out of her.
^ Believed to be Vernuu.
278 MJKOTl OPKRATIONI^, 1714-1762. [1745.
and conduct." It is difficult to believe that this decision was come
to without bias. At any rate, it by no means satisfied public
opinion ; and, a year later, the Hampton Court, with Mostyn still in
command, went out of I'ortsmouth fiarbour to the cry of " All's
well ! there's no Frenchman in the way." '
On February '20th following, the Chester, .50, Captain Francis
Geary, and Smiderlcmd, 60, Captain John Brett, fell in in
the Soundings with the Elephant, 20, then on her way home
from the Mississippi, and having twenty-four thousand pieces
of eight on board. They chased, shot away her main topmast,
and captured her. This was but a mere flicker of success, closely
to be followed by another loss and Ijy another unsatisfactory
court-martial.
On March 28th, the Anyleseij, 44, Captain Jacob Elton, one of
the ships cruising to command the entrance of the Channel, put
out of Kingsale, whither she had been to land some sick, amongst
whom was her first lieutenant. On the following da}% a fresh
westerly breeze blowing, a large sail was sighted to windward.
Elton, making sure that she was his consort the Augusta, piped to
dinner, and paid no further heed. Meanwhile, the stranger came
down fast ; but it was not till she was close to the Anglesey that,
yawing slightly, she showed French ornamentation on her quarter.
Then all was hurry and confusion. Elton, to gain time, ordered the
foresail to be set ; but the only effect of this manoeuvre was to bury
the lee lower deck ports in the sea and almost to swamp the ship.
The enemy, which proved to be the Apollon, 50, belonging to the
French navy, but fitted out by private adventurers, ran close under
the stern of the Anglesey and rounded-to on her lee quarter, poui-ing
in a heavy fire. Elton and the Master fell at the first discharge,
and the command devolved on the second lieutenant. Baker Phillips.
The decks were not cleared ; the ship was half-full of water ; and
sixty men were dead or wounded. Phillips could not order the
helm to be put up without falling aboard a ship as full of men as
his was of water ; so, taking hasty comisel with Taafe, the third
lieutenant, he decided that no effective resistance could be offered,
and ordered the colours to be struck. It is difficult to see what else
Phillips could have done. William Hutchinson, " the Mariner," laid
down that a ship attacked as the Anglesey was ought to be box-
hauled, and to pass imder the enemy's stern raking him, as the
' Cluiruock, iv. 431.
1745.] CASE OF LIEUT. JSAKEIt I'TIILLII'S. 279
Serapis subsecjiunitl^y did in the course of her action with the
Bonhomme Uicliurd. Ikit in 1745 Phillips could not have had
the advantage of a study of Hutchinson's ' Treatise on Practical
Seamanship ' ; and, being a young man and inexperienced, he acted
as most other men in his position would have done. The ship
was lost by being engaged to leeward. The subsequent court-
martial ' —
" was vinanimoiisly of opinion tliat Ca])taiii I'liton, deceased, did not give timely
directions foi- getting his ship clear or in a projier jio-sture of defence, nor did he
afterwards behave like an ollicer or a seaman, which was the cause of the ship being
left to Lieutenant Phillips in such distress and confusion. And that Lieutenant Baker
Phillips, late second lieutenant of the said ship, by not endeavouring to the utmost
of his power after Captain Elton's death to put . the ship in order of fighting, not
encouraging the inferior officers and common men to fight courageously, and by
yielding to the enemy, falls under part of the tenth article. They do sentence him to
death, to be shot by a ])latoou of musqueteers on the forecastle, . . . but . . . having
regard to the distress and confusion the ship was in when he came to the command,
and being a young man and unexperienced, they beg leave to recommend him fur
mercy."
The recommendation was ignored, and the sentence was duly
carried into effect. It is difficult to say what was the reason of this,
and it has been suggested in explanation that there was a suspicion
that Phillips was in the pay of the Young Pretender. No hint of
this appears in the minutes of the court-martial ; but it must be
remem.bered that the terror of an invasion was at that time very
great, and that men may be swayed by motives which they do not
acknowledge even to themselves. Whether as a result of this court-
martial or not, it remains to be recorded that not a ship wavered in
her allegiance, though there were undoubted Jacobites in the fleet. -
The one action of the year that had a direct bearing on the result,
the engagement between the Lion and the French ship EUsaheth,
has already been described.^
A number of valuable prizes continued to be made, chiefly in the
West Indies. The greatest success fell to the privateers ; but in
December, 1744, the Bose, 20, Captain Thomas Frankland, had fallen
in with and taken the treasure-ship Concepcion, bound from Cartagena
to Havana. The prize mounted twenty guns and had a large crew ;
but her value lay in the enormously rich cargo which, after a stubborn
fight, became the property of the British. As she was not condemned
' 25th and 26th June, 17-15. P. K. O., vol 2H.
'^ Vide e.g., P. E. 0. Courts-martial, vol. 29. Lieutenant William .Tohnstun, fur
treason, July 15th, 1745.
' Supra, Chap. XW'IL, p. 110.
280 MINOR OPERATIONS, 1714-lTfi2. [1745.
by legal process, the exact value of her lading is unknown. It will
be enough, however, to say that it consisted chiefly of gold, silver,
and jewels, and that such additional finds as 20,000 and 30,000
pistoles, made after the ship had been cleared, were looked on by
comparison as trifles. The privateers which harmed the enemy
most at that time were the Prince Frederick, Duke, and Prince
George, fitted out by a London firm in the summer of 174-5, and
cruising under one James Talbot, master of the first-named,
as commodore.' The profit resulting from this single cruise,
£700,000, was so enormous as to tempt the merchants to repeat
their scheme ; and the ships were sent to sea again in the following
year under George Walker. Subsequently to his capture by the
Fleurun, Walker had commanded the privateer Boscarven, which,
as the French royal frigate Mklee, had been the first prize of the
war, and had been renamed in honour of her captor.
The French West India trade of 1745 went out under the convoy
of the Magnanime, 74, and other ships of war. Vice-Admiral Isaac
Townsend had, however, received news concerning the convoy, and,
on October 31st, intercepted it off Martinique. Townsend, in the
Lenox, together with the Dreadnought and Ipswich, engaged the
men-of-war, while the smaller ships were sent off in chase of
the flying merchantmen. Several of these latter were picked up
to leeward or were driven ashore, but the men-of-war escaped by
taking refuge under the batteries.'^
In the MediteiTanean, meanwhile, the only action of import-
ance was that between the Jersey, 60, Captain Charles Hardy (2),
detached from Captain Henry Osborn's squadron, and the St.
Esprit, 74. The action was very severe, lasting for two hours and
a half, at the end of which time both ships were crippled. The
St. Esprit returned to Cadiz with the loss of her foremast and
bowsprit, and with twenty men killed.
It has been said that the Apollon was a royal ship in pi-ivate
employ. This hiring out of the State's ships was by no means an
uncommon practice with the French ; and, on the break up of their
main fleet subsequent to the battle off Toulon, it was carried out
on a considerable scale. M. de Lage, a man w'hose chief merit lay
in his self-assertiveness, succeeded in obtaining from the Admiral
of France an acting commission as commodore, with authority to fit
' Beatson, i. 294 ; J. K. Laiightou : ' Studies in Naval History,' p. 237.
- Beats. .11, i. 2SG.
1715.] CRUISE OF M. DE l.AGE. 281
out a squadron at his own expense. The crews were to be raised
from the government Hsts of seamen and marines, hut were to be
paid by de Lage. But the men had a peculiar dishke to the
adventurer, and would not volunteer ; ajid it was with the greatest
difficulty that, after a hot press, two ships of the hne and two
frigates got to sea in April, 1745. These were the Fervie, 74,
Orlfiammc, 54, Diane, 30, and Volage, 30. Three times did
de Lage put to sea, and three times was he driven in by bad
weather. On each return to port numbers of men deserted, and
finally he had to pay off the Ferme. With the three ships that were
left, he put to sea for the last attempt at the end of March, 174G.
On the 29th he was sighted by Commodore the Hon. George
Townshend, who had with him at that time the Bedford, 70, and
Essex, 70, and two bombs, but who, contenting himself with a
distant view, chose to believe that the enemy was of superior force,
and declined to engage.^ De Lage stood over to the coast of Spain
where, on April 4th, oft' Cape St. Martin, the Volage, which had
chased out of sight of the squadron, was taken, after an obstinate
resistance, by Captain John Fawler, of the Stirling Castle, 70. On
the following morning her consorts hove in sight ; and Fawler,
believing himself to be in no fit condition to engage them, cut adrift
the prize, which he had taken in tow. She was therefore retaken,
and with her, a lieutenant and twenty-five men. Fawler was tried
by court-martial at Gibraltar on October (3th and 7th following ; and
the court, though it acquitted him for not engaging de Lage,
condemned him for not destroying the prize, which, as he had had
possession of her all night and had learnt from the prisoners that
her consorts were in the neighbourhood, he should and could
have done.
When de La Jonquiere, driven out of America by putrid fever and
small-pox, was on his way back to Europe, he had a narrow escape
from falling in with Anson, then in command in the Channel.
Indeed, so near were the fleets to one another that the French ship,
Mcrcure, 56, doing duty as a hospital, was taken, when but a httle
separated from the main body. Two other ships failed to reach
France ; the Ferine, 54, which had been sent to Quebec with
military stores, and which had fallen in with the British blockading
squadron, and the Mars, 64, which had been driven by stress of
weather to Martinique. Thence, after refitting, she had sailed for
' Court-martial on Townshend, February i)th, 17-16-47. P. K. O., vol. 30.
282 MINOR oriiltATlONS, 1714-1762. [1746.
home ; but she was seventy-five men short of her complement and
very sickly, so that, when she fell in, on October 11th, 1746, with
the Nottingham, 60, Captain Philip de Saumarez, cruising to the
south-west of Cape Clear, she was not in a condition to make effective
resistance. The fight was, nevertheless, maintained for two hours,
ere the Mars, reduced to a wreck, with twelve men killed and
forty wounded, as against three killed and sixteen wounded in the
Notfhif/ham, struck. But for the fineness of the weather it would
have been impossible to send her in. She was added to the Navy.
In 1746, the privateers on both sides continued to have a good
share in the hard knocks, and from time to time did excellent
service. There are two of their exploits which specially claim
mention. On April 10th the Alexander privateer, one hundred and
fortj' men, Phillips master, was cruising off lihe, when she saw
a frigate, with a store ship in company, standing into St. Martin.
This was the Solebaij, 20 guns and two hundred and thirty men,
which had been taken by de Rochambeau on the Portuguese coast
nearly two years before. Phillips boarded her athwart the bowsprit,
at the very entrance to the road, and carried her, killing fifteen of
her men. Phillips, like Walker, was kept out of the King's service,
which he was desirous of entering, by the stringency of the regula-
tions, and had to be content with an acknowledgment of five hundred
guineas and a gold medal. The second instance occurred on May 1st,
when, as has been briefly noted in the previous chapter, H.M.S.
Grei/JioiDtd, 20, with the sloops Baltimore and Terror, fell in off the
west coast of Scotland with two heavy French privateers of 32 and
34 guns respectively. The British were severely handled and beaten
off', and Commander the Hon. Richard Howe (afterwards Earl Howe),
then of the Baltimore, was badly wounded.
On February 9th, 1746, the Portland. 50, Captain Charles
Stevens, cruising in the Soundings, fell in with and engaged the
French Auguste, 50, four hundred and seventy men.
" After two-aud-a-half hours' close action," wrote Stevens, " she struck. Laving
tifty killed, ninety-four wounded, all her masts so shattered that they went by the
board, and so many shot in the hull, that, with the late hard easterly wind, I was
obliged to put away with her before it a hmidred leagues to the westward, and am now
towing her for Pljanouth." '
The Portland had five men killed and thirteen woimded, and lost
her main yard.'-* The Auguste was bought into the service, and,
' .J. K. Laughton : ' Studies in Naval History,' p. 255. '' Cliarnock, v. 229.
ITiTj CliUISK OF CAPTAIN TIfOMAS FOX. 283
as the PortlancTK Prize, cruised with success. On November 19th of
the same year, in company with the Winchehea, 20, the Portland
sighted the Snhtile, 2G. The Winchehea, in which Samuel (after-
wards Viscount) Hood was then a lieutenant, outsailed her consort,
and, after a very severe action, fought the chase to a standstill, so
that, on the Portland's coming up, the Frenchman struck im-
mediately.' The rest of the doings of single ships and light
squadi'ons in European waters during the year may be dismissed
with a mere reference to the destruction of the Ardent, 64, which was
chased ashore in Quiberon Bay in November by Lestock's squadron
when returning from its fruitless descent on Lorient.
Before Anson's victory of May 8rd, there was little done at sea
in 1747 ; and, after it, the enemy began to show great signs of that
exhaustion which, consequent on their second defeat in October, put
an end to the war. Anson's work was well supplemented when
Captain Thomas Fox, of the Kent, 74, having put to sea with
a small squadron in April, fell in, to the westward of the Bay of
Biscay, on June 20th, with the large fleet of French West Indiamen
which he had long been anxiously awaiting. The merchantmen were
under the convoy of M. Dubois de La Motte, whose force consisted
of three sail of the line and a frigate, a force inferior indeed to the
six ships " of Fox's squadron but not so far inferior as to justify the
flight which followed. M. de La Jonquiere, in his encounter with
Anson, had earned the gratitude of his country by deliberately giving
himself to be crushed that he might save his convoy ; de La Motte
shrank from the sacrifice, and took his men-of-war unscathed into
Brest, while, of the West Indiamen, about fifty, to the value of
upwards of a million, were picked up either by Fox himself or by
Eear-Admiral Sir Peter Warren's squadron to leeward.
On the following day the Etoile, 46, escorting five merchantmen,
was driven ashore at Cape Finisterre by Sir Peter Warren, and
was burnt. ^ A few days later, an attempt to execute a somewhat
similar exploit ended in disaster. The Maidstone, 60, Captain the
Hon. Augustus Keppel, which had been cruising in the Soundings
and in the Bay of Biscay, chased an enemy's ship inshore at Belle
' The Subtile was added to the Kuyal Navy as the Amazon.
" Kent, 74, Captain Thomas Fo.>l; Hampton Court, 70, Captain Savage MostjTi :
Eagle, 60, Captain George Brydges Rodney ; Lion, (50, Captain Artliur Scott :
Chester, 50, Captain Philip Durell (1) ; Hector, 44, Captain Thomas Stanhope : with
the fireships Pluto and Dolphin.
^ Troude, i. 318 ; Beatsou, i. 372 ; Cliarnock, iv. 1>S7.
284 MINOR OPERATIONS, 1714-17<J2. [1747.
Isle on June 27th. Venturing too close in, the Maidstone ran
aground and became a total wreck ; and Keppel and his men were
made prisoners of war.
Other captures of note made during the course of the summer
in European waters were those of the Bellone, Loup, and Tieuommee.
The Bellone, a 36-gun frigate bound from Nantes to the East
Indies, was taken by the Edinburgh, Eagle, and Nottingham, was
bought into the service as the Bellona, and was at once sent out
to cruise, with Captain the Hon. Samuel Barrington in command.
The Loup had been the British sloop Wolf, taken by the French
two years earlier. It is interesting to notice that she was captured
by the Amazon, 26, which, as has been mentioned, was originally the
French Subtile. The Wolf, in French hands, had been used as a
privateer, but resumed her duties as a 14-gun sloop in the British
Navy, curiously enough, under the orders of Commander George
Vachell, who had had her before her captm-e in 1745.^ The
Amazon, whose captain was Samuel Faulknor(2), son of that
Samuel Faulknor (1) who had perished with Balchen in the Victory
in 1744, continuing her cruise, fell in, on September 12th, with the
Renommec, 32. A severe but indecisive action followed, and left
both ships badly crippled. They parted company in the night,
but, next day, the Benommee, having the further misfortune to fall
in with the Dover, .50, Captain the Hon. Washington Shirley, was
taken, and, with her, M. de Confians, who was going out in her
to take over the government of San Domingo.
The French force under M. de I'Etenduere, which suffered
defeat on October 14th, 1747, at the hands of Hawke, had under
its convoy a large fleet of merchantmen for the West Indies.
Hawke, after the battle, was not in a fit state to pm'sue the convoy,
but, with admirable promptness, at once victualled the Weazel,
sloop, and despatched her to warn Captain George Pocock, who
had succeeded Captain the Hon. Edward Legge as commodore on
the West India station, of its approach. Thanks to this prompt-
ness, Pocock, though his squadron was scattered when the news
reached him, was able to capture many of the merchantmen. The
Captain took eight, the Dreadnought six, the Dragon five, the
Ludlow Castle another, and the privateers on the station ten more.
The twenty taken by Pocock were valued at ±'100,000.-
' He was lost with her uft' the Irish coast in .January, 1749.
- Beatson, i. 368 and -108.
1747.] THE ADVENTURES OF THE GLORlOtiO. 285
It still remains to describe the most noteworthy of the minor
actions of the year 1747.^ Mention has already been made of
George Walker, a man who would have done credit to any service,
and who was kept out of the Navy only by the regulations which
made it impossible to offer him therein any command which he
would be likely to accept. His fortune on two or three occasions
brought him into close contact with the Eoyal Navy, but never more
closely than in the present instance. Walker, it has been seen,
took over Talbot's squadron of privateers on the latter's retirement.
He enlarged it, and, like his predecessor, cruised with great success
against the enemy's commerce. On October 6th, 1747, the " Eoyal
Family," so called because all the ships composing it were named
after members of the reigning house, were standing out of Lagos
Bay when a large ship was sighted coming in towards Cape
St. Vincent. They immediately gave chase ; and the stranger bore
away to the westward, being, like the British ships, in some doubt
as to the enemy's force. She was, in fact, the Glorioso, a Spanish
74, which had previously landed at Ferrol about three millions of
treasure from the Spanish Main, and was then bound to Cadiz.
She was a fine powerful ship, though, as was general in that
service, she carried no heavier guns than '24-pounders. This was
not her first hostile meeting during the voyage, for on July 14th
she had fallen in at the Azores with the Lark, 40, Captain John
Crookshanks, and Warwick, 60, Captain Robert Erskine. The
Warivick had attacked but, left unsupported, had been beaten to
a standstill; and the Glorioso had made off. For this fiasco,
Crookshanks, who was the senior officer, was cashiered. A few
days later the Spaniard had met with the Oxford, 50, with the
Shorcham, 24, and Falcon, 14, in company ; but they had made
room for her as being of superior force.
.It was now for Walker to try his hand. He beheved that there
was treasure still on board ; but when, at about noon on the 6th,
he overhauled the chase, his frigate, the King George, 32, was alone.
It had fallen flat calm, and the rest of the "Eoyal Family" had
not been able to get up, so that the King George and the Glorioso
lay looking at one another, each uncertain as to what the other
was. In the evening a breeze arose, and the Glorioso headed in-
' J. K. Laughton : ' Studies in Kav.il History,' pp. 239 s<2q. P. E. 0. Courts-
martial, vol. 32, December 28th, 1747, on Smith Callis of the Oxford, and,
February 1st, 1748, on Crookshanks of the Lark.
286 MINOR orKliATlONS, 1711-1762. [1747.
shore, followed by the privateer which, on closing, hailed for
information. The Spaniard answered with a cross-question, and,
on finding that the ship alongside was British, poured in a broad-
side, which was returned at once ; and the ships ran slowly in to the
land, engaged yard-arm to yard-arm. There have been instances
enough of frigates attacking ships of the line ; the capture of the
Guillaume Tell in 1800 was directly due to the embarrassing atten-
tions of the Penelope ; and no small share of Edward Pellew's great
name is due to the manner in which, in the Indefatigable, 44, he
hung on to the Droits de I'Homme in a gale of wind on a lee shore,
till he left her a hopeless wreck. But this is the only instance in
which a frigate, in a smooth sea and fine weather, voluntarily
placed herself, yard-arm to yard-arm, with a ship of the line ; and
not the least wonder of it is that the frigate was only a privateer.
Fortunately for the King George, many of the enemy's shot either
went over her or took effect in her spars ; yet, in spite of that,
after some hours her position began to be critical. On one of her
consorts, the Prince Frederick, coming up, however, the Glorioso
took to fiight. On the morning of the 8th, the King George was
too disabled to pursue, and the Prince Frederick, with two other
ships of the squadron, was making sail after the chase when a large
vessel was seen coming up from the eastward. She was made out
to be British, and Walker at once sent to explain the situation to
her captain. She was the Russell, 80, Captain Matthew Buckle (1),
homeward bound from the Mediterranean, but with only half a crew
on board ; and, even of these, some were sick. As the Bussell crowded
sail in pursuit the chase was seen to be sharply engaged with some
vessel miknown which presently blew up. It was thought at first
that she was the Prince Frederick, but she was in reality the
Dartmouth, 50, Captain James Hamilton (2), which had been drawn
to the scene of action by the firing of the previous night. Out of
her crew of three hundred only fourteen, including a lieutenant,
were saved. Shortly afterwards the Russell in her turn came up,
and began a hot action which lasted for five hours, at the end of
which time the enemy's main-top mast went overboard and she
struck. So short-handed was the Russell that the number of the
prisoners was a serious embaiTassment, and many of them had to be
sent away in the privateers.
Towards the end of 1747 Captain Dubois de La Motte went
out to San Domingo with a convoy of merchantmen. His force
1748.] TIIE MAONANIME TAKEN. 287
consisted of the Mai/iianiiiw, ()4, and a new Etoile, 42. On
November 18th four British men-of-war were seen/ of which one
monnted (iO and another 50 ptuns. From these M. de La Motte
protected his convoy. There was some desultory firing, and the
merchantmen, with the exception of six, got safely away. No
sooner was the Magnanime back in France, than she was ordered
to the East Indies, bearing the broad pennant of Commodore the
Marquis d'Albert.^ On January 81st, 1748, she was sighted in the
north-west by the fleet then cruising under Hawke to the westward
of Ushant. The Magnanime had been partially dismasted in a gale
a few days previously, and was then on her way back to Brest
to refit. Directly she was sighted, the Nottingham, 60, Captain
Eobert Harland (2) , was detached in chase ; but, immediately
afterwards, it became apparent that the enemy was a ship of force,
and the Portland, 50, Captain Charles Stevens, was also ordered
to follow her. The Nottingham was engaged for nearly an hour
before Stevens could come up, and suffered somewhat severely,
losing in all sixteen men killed and eighteen wounded. The loss
of the Portland was only four men wounded, its smallness being due
to the disabled condition of the French ship, which allowed the
Portland to keep on her quarter and rake her at will. After
a stubborn resistance, lasting for six hours, the enemy struck,
having lost, out of a crew of six hundred and eighty-six men,
forty-five killed and one hundred and five wounded. The prize
was a very fine ship, and was added to the British Navy under
her old name. Her capture was the last one of importance in
the war.
The 10th of October, 1748, was marked by the mutiny of the
Chesterfield, 40, which was stationed on the coast of Africa. On
the date named, while the ship lay off Cape Coast Castle, and
the captain, O'Brien Dudley, and others were ashore, Lieutenant-
Samuel Couchman organised a rising, and, persuading the lieutenant
of Marines, the carpenter, and thirty men to join him, got possession
of the ship. The boatswain, Mr. Gastrien, was of those on board
the most zealous in his attempts first to dissuade, and afterwards to-
' This is on the authority of Troude, i. Hl'J. Beatsou makes no mention of it, and
as Troude gives no English names it i.s hard to say what the ships were.
^ Troude, i. 321. Tliere is some doubt as to the date of the capture of tlie
Magnanime, but as she had been in tlie AVest Indies in December, .January 31st, the-
latest date given, seems the most probable. Cf. Beatsou, i. 409.
288 MINOR OPERATION t>, 1714-1762. [1748-51.
overpower, the mutineers ; but had Couchman and his party been
men in any way equal to the risky part which they had set them-
selves to play, there can l;e no doubt that it would have gone very
hard indeed with the boatswain and the loyal party. The mutineers,
however, having first tried to reason a few more into joining them,
and having failed, left the well-disposed members of the crew to
roam about the ship and concert plans at their leisure. On the
12th, thei-efore, the boatswain took counsel with the gunner, who
was ill in his cabin, and, thus getting hold of twenty pistols, armed
a few resolute men and recovered the ship. A court-martial was
held on board the Invincible at Portsmouth on June 26th, 1749, to
inquire into alleged neglect of duty on the part of Captain O'Brien
Dudley, and to examine into the reasons for his being ashore with so
many of his officers to the detriment of the service. Captain Dudley
proved that there had been no cause to suspect latent mutiny, and
that he and his officers were ashore on duty. He and they were,
accordingly, acquitted of all blame. As for Couchman and John
Morgan, the lieutenant of Marines, they were tried on the 28th and
30th respectively, and both were condemned to be shot. On the
] 0th July six men were tried for the same offence, and of them two
were acquitted and the rest hanged.'
Till the outbreak of the next war the Navy had little to do, and,
as was usually the case in a time of comparative quiet, it tmiied its
attention to the Mediterranean pirates. A small squadron was sent
out, with Captain the Hon. Augustus Keppel in the Centurion, 50, as
Commodore. Keppel had a special mission to the Dey of Algier, to
treat with him, or, if necessary, to force him to restrain his piratical
cruisers ; and the story told - is that the Dey professed astonishment
that the King of England should have sent a beardless boy to treat
with him. Keppel, who was twenty-six, was, no doubt, nettled, and
is said to have answered : " Had my master supposed that wisdom
was measured by length of beard, he would have sent your Dey-
ship a he-goat." When the angry Dey threatened his visitor with
death, Keppel, pointing to his squadron, is said to have explained
that there were enough of his countrymen there to honour him with
a glorious funeral pyre. Whether there be truth in the story or not,
' P. R. 0^ Courts-martial, vol. 33. See also Beatson, iii. 89.
'^ A suspiciously similar story is told of the behaviour of the Bej- of Tripoli to
Shovell m 1675. There is no reference to the affair in the Hon. and Kev. Thomas
Keppel's 'Life' of his relative. — W. L. C.
1755.] THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 289
the fact stands that in June, 1751, the dilliculties were smoothed
over, and that Keppel returned to England in the following month
and paid off.
It was not until after some months of unofficial hostilities in
North America, and until after the receipt in England of Boscawen's
dispatch relative to the capture of the Alcide and Lij.s, that the
Seven Years' War was fairly set on foot.
Thus far the British had been the gainers in the struggle that
still awaited a formal initiation. They had taken two ships, and the}'
had lost but one, the Mars, 64, which had grounded while going into
harbour at Halifax on the return thither of Boscawen's squadron at
the end of June; and which it had been impossible to get off again.
Soon afterwards, on the night of August 18th, 1755, the Blandfurd,
20, Captain Kichard Watkins, when on her way to South Carolina,
fell in off Brest with a French squadron homeward bound from the
West Indies under M. du Guay. She did what she could to get
away, and, even when surrounded, attempted some resistance ; but
the British '20-gun frigate of that period was " a pigmy with a pop-
gun armament ; " and she was easily taken possession of and sent
into Nantes.^ The sequel is curious as testifying to a tardy zeal on
the part of the French to avert the consequences of their aggressions.
With a parade of regard for legality, the Blandford was restored by
the French Government ; but Great Britain was not thus readily
appeased, and she quickly retaliated by capturing the Espercmce,
commanded by Comte de Bouvet. That ship, nominally a 74, but
having only twenty-four guns mounted, was on her way home from
Louisbourg, when on November 13th, 1755, she fell in with Byng's
fleet, which had sailed from Spithead a month before. The Orford,
64, Captain Charles Stevens, was ordered to chase, and soon began
a close action, in which the Revenge, 64, Captain Frederick Corn-
wall, presently joined. The EsjuTancc, however, made a stout
resistance, and did not strike till the squadron began to draw up.
She was an old ship, and had been so severely handled that, con-
sidering the badness of the weather, it was judged useless to try to
keep her afloat. She had lost ninety killed and wounded out of a total
of three hundred. Her surviving people were, therefore, taken out
of her, and she was set on fire. This was on the 15th, when it was
first possible to send a boat on board her, although she had been
' V. Ti. O. Court-martial on "Watkins, October fitli, 1755. Vol. 36.
VOL. III. U
290 MINOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1756.
making signals of distress ever since her capture on the 13th. Byng
wrote ^ concerning her : —
" She was iu the mo.st distressed coudilion 1 ever saw a ship, extremely leaky and
not able to carry any sail, having only her lower masts standing and foretopmast, and
not one yard across excejit the spritsail yard."
On March 11th, 1756, still prior to the declaration of war,
the Warwick, GO, was taken by the French near Martinique. Seeing
that, according to a French account,^ this ship was taken by a frigate,
it is interesting to turn to the stoi-y of the affair as given by her
commander. Captain Molyneux Shuldham, at the subsequent court-
martial.-* The Warwick had been detached on December 21st,
1755, by Commodore Thomas Frankland, to cruise in the neigh-
bourhood of Martinique ; and shortly after reaching her station
she began to be very sickly. As, however, the sickness began to
decrease, and as there was no information of any French ships of
force being in those waters, Shuldham resolved to continue his
cruise.
On March 11th, at daybreak, three sail were sighted, and, they
being obviously of superior force, and the private signal being
unanswered, the Warwick bore away under a press of sail. The
strangers were, in fact, the French 74-gun ship Prudent, and the
two frigates Atalante and Zephyr, then on their way out from
France under the command of Captain d'Aubigny of the Prudent.
The Warwick was one of the smallest of her class, was a dull sailer,
had less than three hundred men fit for service, and was so crank
that she could rarely use her lower deck guns. As there was a
heavy sea running, she was uiiable to use them on the occasion in
question ; and she had to rely almost entirely on the 9-pounders of
her upper deck and quarter-deck. The Atalante, 34, Captain du
Chaffault, was the first to come up with the chase, and, hanging on
her quarter, out of reach of her weather broadside, kept up a galling
fire. The wind shifted in a hard squall ; both ships were taken
aback ; and before the Waru-ick, whose rigging was much cut, could
pay off her head, the Prudent drew close up and opened fii-e. Shuld-
ham ordered the great guns to play upon the commodore only, and
the small-arm men to keep up their fire on the Atalante ; but it was
' Admirars Dispatches, Channel Fleet, vol. 2. Byng, Koveniber 19th, 1755.
■-' Troude, i. 338.
^ P. R. 0. Courts-martial, vol. 38, March 27th, 1758.
i7o6.] HOWE TO TJ/h' CUIAUSEY IHLANDS. 2iJl
still impossible to use the lowci' deck guns, the ship being half
swamjDed ; and after half an huuv more, being defenceless and un-
manageable, she struck her flag. Shuldham remained a prisoner of
war for two years, and on his release was adjudged by the court-
martial, held to inquire into the loss, to have done his duty.
An indecisive action was fought on May 17th, 1756, between the
Colchester, 50, and Lyme, 28, Captains Lucius O'Brien and Edward
Vernon (2), on the one hand, and the French ships Aqniloii, 50, and
FicUle,^ 26, on the other. The French ships were standing in for
Bochefort in charge of a convoy, when, qaite near the forts, they
were sighted by the British and chased. The convoy was ordered
to make the best of its way, and the men-of-war gave battle to
cover its retreat. The ships paired off, the Colchester engaging the
Aquilon, while the frigates fought it out together ; but so equal were
the forces on both sides, that, when they parted by mutual consent,
and with heavy loss, no definite result had been arrived at as the
outcome of seven hours' hard pounding.
A small expedition, planned and carried into effect during the
summer of 1756, deserves mention on account of the relief which
it afforded to British trade in the Channel. The enemy was busy
fortifying the Chausey Islands, which lie off" Granville, being influ-
enced thereto by the fact that the islands afforded a refuge to the
St. Malo privateers, and were also close to the Channel Islands, upon
which the French had designs. It was desirable that the fortifica-
tions should not be proceeded with, and Captain the Hon. Kichard
Howe, of the Dunkirk, 60, was sent with a small squadron, consisting
of a 20-gun frigate and some small craft, to put a stop to the work.
With Howe went three hundred men of the Jersey garrison ; but
there was no fighting, for the French commandant, after some
dispute about terms, was content to respect the force arrayed against
him, and to surrender on the conditions offered. The fortifications
were immediately destroyed. The conquest, small though it was,
would not have been so easily effected, had all the works been
completed, for the situation was strong ; and the approach to it was
difficult, and wholly exposed to the fire of the fort, which was
designed to mount thirty guns.^
' Troude, i. 3.39, calls her Ci/biJe, but tliere was no sliip of the name in the French
>favy List. O'Brien, in his report to Boscawen (Adiiiirars Dispatches, Channel Fleet
vol. 4), called her Lafiddelle.
2 Beatson, i. 520.
U 2
292 MINOR OPEltATIONS, 1714 -1702. [175C.
Consequent upon B^ait^'s action, there was a lull in the Medi-
terranean. The French had no fleet at sea there ; and Hawke's
command was for the most part uneventful. Its 
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